1. |
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2. |
Now the Dance is Over
03:25
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NOW THE DANCE IS OVER
Now the dance is over
now the music’s gone
the mirror ball is broken
it’s lying on the floor
Time will pass you by
love and pain will cry
together we were strong
you felt like you belonged
but it’s only tainted love
Now the dance is over
what is there to say
how could we recover
they’ve taken it away
It takes hold of your body
it takes hold of your mind
and I won’t say I’m sorry
that you’re so deaf and blind
it’s only tainted love
It’s the heartbeat that you feel
when you turn the twisted wheel
an all-nighter out there free
the whole wide world and me
Now the dance is over
there’s nowhere left to go
it’s hidden in the cover
it’s in my northern soul
I count the teardrops falling
Oh I’ve been fooled before
you stand there, you’re still talking
You’re blocking up the door
and it’s only tainted love
It’s the heartbeat that you feel
when you turn the twisted wheel
an all-nighter out there free
the whole wide world and me
Still keeping in the faith
though now it’s getting late
we’ll dance like once before
without order and the law
Now the dance is over
now the lights are down
a loving like no other
and we all have a crown
Time will pass you by
love and pain will cry
together we are strong
together we belong
Time will pass you by
love and pain will cry
together we are strong
together we belong
it’s only tainted love
only tainted love
only tainted love
it’s only tainted love
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3. |
Why Do I Cry?
04:38
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WHY DO I CRY?
Sung –
Why do I cry? Why do I want to die?
Why don’t I go on home?
Why do I remember?
I can’t forget
the place I used to call my own
What is there to hold me
except my love
just like me mother told us –
there’s not enough of it
what is there to do but break my heart
when I think about the careless love
Spoken –
I remember when I was young and they were old
they moved us from Witton Park to Woodhouse Close
and I remember all the crying
from the children and the dying
of the broken-hearted people losing home
You can’t believe they’d do it
ships of fools sailed right on through it
with their visions and their doubtful empty dreams
and I remember wondering
through the lightning and the thundering
does anybody listen – do they feel?
Sung –
Why do I cry, it was years ago
they’d put me back in prison
just for saying so
they hated us then
now they don’t want to know
How far must we go?
So why do I cry over hearts of stone
why are we so crowded
and still so alone
everything is kept and hidden in a cloud
and they’re dishing out their careless love
they’re dishing out their careless love
Spoken –
We had good company, we had our friends
we had our neighbours to borrow and lend
we had our football, we had our songs
our gardens, our pigeons, our rights and our wrongs
and you took it all
yes, you took it all
your great good intentions put paid to us all
Sung –
What is there for me, everything is clean
it’s a dog-walking, people-talking
grassed over green
there’s photographs and films
of how it used to be
this train passed me by
But why do I cry
why does it hurt me so?
I have to cry
there’s nowhere else to go
If you don’t love me
then leave me alone
and don’t weigh me down with your careless love
Spoken –
I remember watching trains go puffing past
I was writing down their numbers at the station by the tracks
The world was big and open and my heart was young and full
with Bradshaw’s Guide beside me, the passion had begun
but it didn’t take them long to close it down
I remember all the jobs lost in the town
I looked along the tracks and it was never coming back
and all I can do is pass it on
And the broken road to Shildon’s running down to Shildon shops
where it’s all in a museum and where working lives are stopped
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4. |
Introduction to Paradise
01:03
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5. |
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I’LL WALK IN PARADISE AGAIN
I rode the trains, I rode the trains
from Witton Park
I went to school and back again
those were the days, those were the days
it was the centre of the world
and we were friends
I went to church, I went to church
every Sunday, every Monday
to meet the girls
and it was life, it was me life
among me cousins and me neighbours
and the strife
The chimneys were enhancing
the red dust kept on dancing in the sun
It was nice, mebbe not so nice
the biggest iron work in Europe
Paradise
the pay was good, just like it should be
the working Welsh and Irish drinking beer at night
And it was wild, oh it was wild
as the West
you had to watch your back and smile
but there was kindness
and there was care
it was a hard love
and we were there
Paradise was glowing
the river kept on flowing in the sun
We had the Blues, we had the Blues
the Bishop Auckland football team
and me and you
we were proud, we were so proud
in Wembley Stadium winning
rattling in the crowd
We were daft, oh we were daft
we were the best
well, us and Crook
and we could laugh
we had wor football
and Jonty Raine
If I had a choice I’d do it all again
I was dreaming when we won
I’m still dreaming in North Bitchburn in the sun
Then I was lost, oh I was lost
they said they had to knock it down
because of the cost
they stopped the trains
pulled up the track
they made it so we never would be back
Of course they lied, how they lied
they refused to make it easy
so some of us died
they didn’t care, they had no heart
we were hurting and we were there
Still I hear the trains go past
and I can still be daft
I know this is the end
someday I’ll walk in Paradise again
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6. |
Dale's Poem
02:04
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DALE’S POEM
And it’s the loving that’s hurting
it’s the blood upon the tracks
it’s the broken-hearted railway
shouting ‘never coming back’
And I wish I was in Donegal
or somewhere deep in Wales
where there’s singing in the valleys
and the fiddle plays ‘til late
Here the streets named to remind us
of the fools that took us down
I drive along Middlewood Avenue
to get back into town
And every day the knife goes in
I wish that I could swallow
but I cannot get me breath and choke
the memories hollow out me chest
And what am I to do
I’m paralysed, I close me eyes
it’s the loving that’s hurting
it’s loving that lives
if only they would understand
I wouldn’t be like this
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7. |
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ON THE STREETS OF NOWHERE
I can feel the wind that’s blowing
I can feel it hurting
and I know there’s much more than going
underneath the curtain
I have seen a heavy load
in the window down on Cemetery Road
it’s a place where no-one helps the flowers growing
I can see the days go by
and it won’t make a difference
whether or not it makes me cry, well
it makes no difference
the politicians say we’re no good
to look down on us if you could
‘til the votes come in and then you can forget us
I know there’s a heart that’s beating
inside this body
but there’s a cloud already stealing
out of my hand
if I speak then no-one listens
and if I try the strength is missing
no-one out here on the streets of nowhere
I can hear the thunder rumbling
I can’t see the lightning
I can see us going under
it’s very, very frightening
everything is propaganda
you wouldn’t know if tears were real
as the fear that drives us all into this corner
And if I stand up I’ll be knocked down
if I break in I’ll be thrown out
if I speak then no-one listens
and if I try the strength is missing
no-one out here on the streets of nowhere
I can feel the hand of reason
gripping round my throat
to stop the breathing
stop the story ever being told
walk on by to cover the cracks
and look the other way ‘cos you’ll never be back
don’t come around here
don’t come if you don’t mean it
And if I stand up I’ll be knocked down
(streets of nowhere)
and if I break in I’ll be thrown out
(streets of nowhere)
if I speak then no-one listens
(streets of nowhere)
and if I try the strength is missing
(streets of nowhere)
if I stand out I’ll be damned
(streets of nowhere)
if I sit down for who I am
I’ll be no-one out here on the streets of nowhere
There’s no-one out here on the streets of nowhere
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8. |
Landlines
01:35
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LANDLINES
We are the children of our time
we are the lines across the land
around our eyes you’ll see the tracks
and in our memory, a map
We are the children of our time
the lines of life across our hands
and in our dreams we have and hold
for time has passed and we grow old
We are the children of our time
we are the stones, the grit and grime
the years grassed over clean and green
washed into air, no longer mine
We are the children of our time
we are the lines across the land
around our eyes you’ll see the tracks
around our lips the kiss
of love and laughter, never coming back
We are the children of our time
we are the lines across the land
we are the trains of steam and coal
we are the graveyards, ghost and cold
We are the children of our time
and time has passed
and lines have crossed
and in our memory, a map
and when we go it will be lost
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9. |
Ghost in this House
04:51
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GHOST IN THIS HOUSE
There’s a ghost in this house of God
and I can hear him crying
just a shadow upon the wall
‘cos all he loves is dying
crying the tears of regret
‘cos nobody’s listening yet
and it’s lost in the summer rain
there’ll be no rest
There’s a ghost in this house of God
and I can hear him singing
and he holds to The Old Rugged Cross
his only hope still clinging
and he sings to the organ’s pain
and he clings to that old refrain
and he’s waiting there for me
to love again
to love again
There’s a ghost in this house of God
and he haunts the halls and windows
and often the doors are barred
the pictures are on the windows
and he yearns for the lonely souls
that are starving with nowhere to go
and he wanders the graveyard walls
that have no ending
Why does nobody see
why’s the world so against me
why can I never go free
will they ever know me, will they ever know me
There’s a ghost in this house of God
where every brick is counted
and he carries a heart of gold
but he can’t move this mountain
and all that he needs is denied
and all that he hears is more lies
and all that he is still waits
to be recognised
There’s a ghost in this house of God
and he touches the day that’s dawning
and he looks at his worn-out hands
and still the choir is calling
and they sing of Love Divine
and he hopes to come in time
and he dreams that things will change
around about him
Why does nobody see
why’s the world so against me
why can I never go free
will they ever know me
Why does nobody see
why’s the world so against me
why can I never go free
will they ever know me
will they ever know me
Chord X 4
will they ever know me
will they ever know me
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10. |
Unfinished Business
02:44
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
We’re always around when the story’s ending
We’re always around when the bird has flown
When the door is closing, the train is leaving
We’re always around when the chips are down
We’re the ones below the line
For us the train is never on time
Whatever happens to us all
We know the boat will never call
So far as we can see ahead
We see no chance of daily bread
Or somewhere for us all to live
Or someone who’s prepared to give
We’re always around when the story’s ending
We’re always around when the bird has flown
When the door is closing, the train is leaving
We’re always around when the chips are down
Lonely hearts and troubled minds
But we can always read the signs
The truth will come, the axe will fall
‘cos you’ve already had it all
Unfinished business this will be
Look outside and you will see
Darkness and a yellow sun
The end of life for everyone
We’re always around when the story’s ending
We’re always around when the bird has flown
When the door is closing, the train is leaving
We’re always around when the chips are down
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11. |
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12. |
We Should Have Danced
02:41
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WE SHOULD HAVE DANCED
We should have danced
We should have danced
We should have danced
We should have danced
I was dreaming, I was feeling
I was being led up to the sky
and the dawning came a-calling
it’s never too late to reply
I was wakened, I’d been waiting
in a queue to the end of the road
and the holding went out floating
and I knew I had somewhere to go\
Chorus
And the music played into the small hours
and I thought I could never let go
and my head became bright sherbet fountain
and my feet danced of nights long ago
In the moonlight, there was my light
and the silver, it turned into gold
and the moments were forever
and the silence was broken for good
Now the tides roll, and the meadows
ripple in sight of the sun
and the wind sings out of nowhere
as I watch the river return
Chorus
And the music played into the small hours
and I know I will never let go
and my head is a bright champagne fountain
and my feet know the dance
and my feet know the dance
and my feet know the dance
and my feet know the dance
that we should have danced so long ago
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13. |
Love on the Losing Side
04:03
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LOVE ON THE LOSING SIDE
Let there be light, let there be light
let there be light still shining
for now the night is drawing down
and there’s no silver lining
it’s hard to do
it’s hard to say
but I know there’s no other way
I know it hurts
I know you cry
it’s loving on the losing side
Let there be hope, let there be hope
of better days inside you
for all around is dark and still
and no-one there to guide you
it’s hard to feel
and make it real
but there’s no other way to be
I know it hurts
I know you cry
it’s loving on the losing side
Let there be light, let there be light
a candle in the window
for travellers weary of the night
who only feel the wind blow
it’s hard to try
it’s hard to know
but there’s no other way to go
I know it hurts
I know you cry
it’s loving on the losing side
Let there be arms, let there be arms
let there be arms around you
and put those arms around those arms
entwined where kindness found you
it’s hard to give
it’s hard to live
but there’s no other way
I know it hurts
I know you cry
it’s loving on the losing side
Let there be life, let there be life
let there be life still smiling
and though death’s waiting at the door
remember, light is shining
it’s hard to chose
it’s hard to lose
but there’s no other way (to go)
it’s hard to leave
it’s hard to grieve
but there’s no other way to see
I know it hurts
I know you cry
it’s loving on the losing side
I know it hurts
I know you cry
it’s loving on the losing side
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14. |
THE WHOLE ALBUM!
36:57
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All Lyrics are available in our Lyrics Section
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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
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