1. |
Walls Of Silence
03:12
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01 WALLS OF SILENCE
I came, I saw
Took the city by storm
That was the plan writ large across my sky
With my army of culture
Conquer here, you conquer them all
So I was told in realities gone by
But now I sit in a cell of anonymity
In four grey walls of silence
The party’s in full swing
My grand entrance too late
Overcrowded already when I came
No one moved an inch
As I stepped into the crush
I’ll make no mark
Before I slip out again
But now I sit in a cell of anonymity
In four grey walls of silence
Never mind missing me
Never mind mourning
I know you’ll barely notice when I go
Show them all you're floating in success
Enhancing your life for all to see
Surrounded by beauty
And soft focus lies
Hoping the spotlight turns on me
But now I sit in a cell of anonymity
In four grey walls of silence
Never mind missing me
Never mind mourning
I know you’ll barely notice when I go
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2. |
Exile
03:28
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02 EXILE
Her weapon’s a song
To shatter the cross borne by a country with no voice
Do you dare to sing out?
Do you dare to sing out?
So loud
Still they pretend
Here are the building blocks of freedom and choice
Do you dare to sing out?
Do you dare to sing out?
So loud
Singing or relenting, she is there lamenting
I can hear her singing in the shadows
Dreams of running to exile
But outside these walls come tumbling down
She echoes through halls
No doubt it's a risky business to take on the King
Do you dare to sing out?
Do you dare to sing out?
With murder in London
And silence from the complicit in Scotland Yard
Do you dare to sing out?
Do you dare to sing out?
So loud
I can hear her singing in the shadows
Dreams of running to exile
But outside these walls come tumbling
down
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3. |
Fairy Lights
03:09
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03 FAIRY LIGHTS
Tin tube, thrown around
The turbulence is on the ground
Travellers’ anxieties
Are nothing to the dread unleashed
A mile below
Wars, fronts, rival airs
So far from our ancestor’s cares
Divide and rule, run away
Live to lie another day
We’d take the lion’s share
Let the rest disintegrate
Ours is wealth and power and divine right
We imagined away
The fires that we laid
From right up here
I’d swear they’re fairy lights
Winged toy, blown astray
A fragile bird will land today
Over a million lives
Time makes good, then fast divides
We’d take the lion’s share
Let the rest disintegrate
Ours is wealth and power and divine right
We imagined away
The fires that we laid
From right up here
I’d swear they’re fairy lights
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4. |
Moon Song
02:41
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04 MOON SONG
A tiny heartbeat and
Next to me breathing you
Kept your rhythm and I fell out of time
The moon it stirs us, its
Waxes and wanes, a billion refrains
The same melodic line
The dead of darkness and
Borrowed slumber
But now I need you
You know that it won’t keep
I need to take in more of this paradise
That you have brought me
It’s not a time to sleep
Leave the ordinary
Step out of everyday
Young eyes fixed on the moon’s light
And they’re shining
As these moments fall away
A tiny heartbeat and
Next to me breathing you
Kept your rhythm and I fell out of time
And if this moment will
Never breathe again
I’ll hold it captive
Forever in my mindLeave the ordinary
Step out of everyday
Young eyes fixed on the moon’s light
And they’re shining
As these moments fall away
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5. |
The Cloud
03:15
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05 THE CLOUD
Forget fighting one another
The war in my own head is
Quite enough for me
All the things these two hands would
erase or rewrite
Do they talk to one another?
These hands of such delusion
And discrepancy
The touch as one caresses while the
other takes a life
All I can do
Is keep my head clear of the butterflies
That swarm all around me
And form a cloud of confusion and
wonder, wonder why
We’ve so much to contend with
As leaders smile then stab you in the back
Like a faithless friend who's sweet as
honey to your face
Like all love stories when
The spotlight on the passion fades to black
Mistrust and apprehension set to win
this human race
All I can do
Is keep my head clear of the butterflies
That swarm all around me
And form a cloud of confusion and
wonder, wonder why
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6. |
Monochrome
03:44
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06 MONOCHROME
My feet tread the stones
Laid by hands long gone by
This same baking sun once was theirs
If we are the clones
Of a million past lives
We must carry their fears and their cares
In the same rippling waters
A child bathed and dreamed
Of yesterday’s victories in gold
Her daughter’s granddaughter’s
Night times now gleam
With the same visions centuries old
Monochrome
Sealed in the pages of a history book
Makes you out to be someone from another star
You stood on these streets
Watched the same sunset
You worried, you laughed
And at once we forget we’re a century apart
Monochrome
The tears and decay
Empire’s dark secret’s out
The towers of truth set in stone
Burnt down in a day
By those to whom hardship
Means missing the smartest smartphone
Monochrome
Sealed in the pages of a history book
Makes you out to be someone from another star
You stood on these streets
Watched the same sunset
You worried, you laughed
And at once we forget we’re a century apart
Monochrome
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7. |
The Rest Of Time
03:06
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07 THE REST OF TIME
Give me just one day
Aahh
To think I could have it all mapped out inside
A perfect sequence for life
Beneath a sea of questions
My father slipped away
No science to wound his steely pride
And doubt flows always
Did I let him down?
This is the whisper that could be a cry
We only need to pass it on
I’d seconds to find out
A thousand hills to climb
The English grace and the moment gone
And doubt flows always
Did I let him down?
Give me just one day
In fact you’ll be handing me
The rest of time
So many awaiting not daring to hope
That someone might gift them time
Would you put yourself out
For someone you don’t know?
Sell a day of comfort and purchase a life
And doubt flows always
Did I let him down?
Give me just one day
In fact you’ll be handing me
The rest of time
Ah yeyo
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8. |
Payback
04:14
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08 PAYBACK
Don’t tell me
You’ve still an ounce of belief
That somebody watches us
To see we reap what we sow
When you see a man
Who gives everything
Sitting, head in hands
Another scar on his soul
For the child he’ll never hold again
And quietly
He returns to the fold
Asking how can this be
How I’ll ever rebuild
And run back
Without an flicker of faith
To his world of selflessness
A half never filled
By the girl he’ll never see again
Do as you would be done by
You’ll see your reward in time
I look around
But I see no payback
An accident, life is no more
So I wish you the best of luck
I look around
But I see no payback
Still burning
He comes once again
To shout of the losing world
His own need unserved
Upon him
Visit wound after wound
Each indefensible
If wounds are ever deserved
By a child he'll never see again
Do as you would be done by
You’ll see your reward in time
I look around
But I see no payback today
An accident, life is no more
So I wish you the best of luck
I look around
But I see no payback
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9. |
Nostalgia
03:25
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09 NOSTALGIA
Please stay calm
Don’t be alarmed
I had a chance I couldn’t lose
To drop in
Soothsaying
Am I a future you would choose?
My only words
Are words that criticise
But criticism wasn’t welcome here
Broke you apart
Have I the heart
To dwell on words you cannot hear
I’ll fill you in
Where to begin?
These blacks and whites link you and I
You struck with fear
Release right here
Scarred with tones of innocence gone by
My only words
Are words that criticise
But criticism wasn’t welcome here
Broke you apart
Have I the heart
To dwell on words you cannot hear
A slow burn
No wish to learn
Twenty seven years coming of age
The darkest days
We wish away
The scenes that fake nostalgia would restage
My only words
Are words that criticise
But criticism wasn’t welcome here
Broke you apart
Have I the heart
To dwell on words you cannot hear
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10. |
Small But Strong
03:22
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10 SMALL BUT STRONG
The ivory tower
Casts shadows of blue
The people had power
But they took it from you
A mile above
A murder of suits
Put a value on love
As power pollutes
Small but strong
I have no control
And all I ask is my share
I beg them, trust me
To know what's right
The too high and mighty to care
This world rewards
The silver spoons
The idle lords
The blood tycoons
They bought control
We fought to win
Until they stole
It back again
Small but strong
I have no control
And all I ask is my share
I beg them, trust me
To know what's right
The too high and mighty to care
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11. |
Standby
03:26
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11 STAND BY
The right to choose a people seek
A brutal army destroys the weak
The frozen dread of every child
The target said the soldier smiled
And then took aim and smiling still
Murdered childhood and stole free will
That fear would reign, we’d fall away
Our questions silenced, in disarray
We cannot stand by
While the suits all take sides
Debating how strongly to criticise
The powers look on
Denounce and meanwhile
Leave a dictator to murder in style
I won’t stand by, I won’t stand by
We chose our foe, he chose his first
The scene keeps changing, now who is worse?
So we switch sides when they return
To steal our humour and watch it burn
We cannot stand by
While the suits all take sides
Debating how strongly to criticise
The powers look on
Denounce and meanwhile
Leave a dictator to murder in style
I won’t stand by, I won’t stand by
(Arms must never change our minds)
Forget the strong, the powerless powers
You keep your glory, their hurt is ours
And now the eyes of those you wronged
Stay fixed upon you, a billion strong
We cannot stand by
While the suits all take sides
Debating how strongly to criticise
The powers look on
Denounce and meanwhile
Leave a dictator to murder in style
I won’t stand by, I won’t stand by
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The Portraits London, UK
Alt-folk duo The Portraits (Jeremy and Lorraine Millington) reached the iTunes chart in January 2015 with their charity
single The Rest Of Time, championed by BBC local radio, Radio 2 and 6 Music and featuring the voices of 2000 people.
2015 sees The Portraits playing at Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk Festival and their new studio album Lions and Butterflies is due for release in September.
... more
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