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1. |
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I wish I was a fish called Fluffy, in a fish tank playin’ the fool.
Swimmin’ round a plastic castle, lookin’ real cool.
When you dropped in our flakes, me and my mates
Would dash about crazy fast.
Then you’d switch off our light, as we took our last bite
An’ float around “til night had passed.
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Instead I’m fish in the ocean, needing eyes in the back of my head,
Longlines, trawls or purse-seine, so many ways to find yourself dead.
Just gather us up, drowning in air,
Crushed together like peas.
We are sentient critters, not food that glitters,
Taking minutes to die whilst squeezed.
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Or how ‘bout life on a fish farm, sounds like kinda fun.
Space is at a prem-i-um, y’ face up someone else’s bum.
Then time to go, but we don’t know
We’re being hoovered to God knows where.
But there ain’t no water, and there should be a law t’
Stop us ending up with a sightless stare.
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I should have been a fish called Fluffy, could’ve even swam in the sea,
No plastic castle needed, just a safety guarantee.
No longline, trawl, freedom for all
Yeah that would sure suit me.
Just swimming about, without any doubt
That I’m gonna die naturally.
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Trouble is, people think we’re all stupid. Listen, “Far from it!” alright?
We have good memories and can learn loads of stuff,
We Communicate with each other
Form relationships with each other
And, oh yes, feel anxiety, fear and,
Most definately…pain.
But don't worry about it, OK?
Have a nice day.
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2. |
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THE HUNTING DREAM
You dreamed the hunting dream today
As you lay in the old arm chair
And while you dreamed, on your sleeping face
All the marks of your age were there.
And yet when you are awake
Puppy you still seem
But an old dog lay in her chair today
Dreaming her hunting dream.
You wrinkle your lip, twitch a paw
You make those tiny high cries
When you run through your hunting dream
Over fields of paradise.
I gaze as you sleep your hunting dreams
Into a desolate place
A young dog runs no more at my side
And I cannot not look into your face.
Will you wait for me when day is done
Once more I can be with you
In a world that’s new and we are young
The hunting dreams come true
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3. |
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Verse 1
Maybe…She came out of a hat,
MAGIC, just like that!
So they called her “White Rabbit”,
And it turned into “Rabbit
Well, a little girl loved her,
But grew up and dumped her.
Now Rabbit’s old, no dispute
But she’s small, white and cute.
Yes, she’s “Rabbit” the RDA star.
Chorus
I’m Rabbit the RDA star
I just love you whoever you are.
I’m gentle, just like my name
Whatever you need I am game
‘Cos I’m Rabbit the RDA star
Verse 2
Can't do it?….You know I don’t think so
We’re gonna have fun so
Get on Rabbit’s back
Let’s go for a hack
Weather raining or fine
The pleasure’s all mine
The best day of the week
Ain’t this feeling unique?
Riding Rabbit the RDA star.
Chorus
Verse 3
Riding?… Sure for disabled
So much more than its labelled
Where many old horses end
Up, just among friends
But they offer their saddles
To any human that straddles
Them, looking for calm
Peace and safety from harm
It could be Rabbit the RDA star.
Chorus
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4. |
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Verse 1
Sheep, pig, chicken and cow,
They enliven our country, I’m sure you’ll allow.
But it may have occurred at one time or another
That each is a being, has sister, and brother.
Chorus
While admiring the scene of hill, stream and field,
Full of beasts grazing calmly, but what is concealed.
All the ones that you don’t see, in cage and in shed,
All the young that must die, for the meat we are fed.
All the eggs that we fry, milk, butter and cheese.
All the foreshortened lives. Is there more? Yes please!
Verse 2
And what of the lorry, to you know just where?
Soft noses pressed outward, panicked eyes at us stare.
Field and barn just a memory, we’re at the end of the line.
Will you still see our faces as you sit down to dine?
Chorus
Verse 3
When chickens stop laying, what happens then?
Gassed, landfilled, or eaten, few make an old hen.
The knackerman’s coming, we’re filled with alarm
We’re all new male calves on a large dairy farm.
Chorus
Verse 4
But I’m not a vegan, I wish that I was
That I had the conviction, commitment, because
Although I’d change nothing, no more than my diet,
It would speak to the world, my conscious more quiet
Chorus
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5. |
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MONTY, THE ONE RACE LEGEND.
Monty was his name, not a Legend as they said
Bright lights, roaring of the crowd- the reasons he was bred.
Just an unknown greyhound full of unknown dread,
Quivering in the starting trap and wondering….. what lies ahead.
Though schooling race, no betting done, just see how you cover ground,
But you’d best run bloody fast lad, if you want to stay around.
Your very life depends on it, the only chance you’ll know
To show us what you’re made of, if you stay or if you go.
Monty ran his fastest, other dogs just floated past
“Oh God please don’t let him be the last!”
His heart and lungs were bursting, he just had to win,
What was going to happen to him?
But they called him “front-end phoney”, a “sitter in the box”,
A “checker” on the bends, he’d be better hunting fox,
Will he ever finish, we’ll knock that smile right off his face!
He’ll never run another race.
So line up for the captive bolt gun?
Just one more useless greyhound …. soon be gone.
But Monty he was rescued, he came out of the dark,
No more races, just walks in the park.
But every now and then, his trot becomes a run
And just like liquid silver, shines brighter than the sun.
Monty floats across the grass
With the strength of all those dogs from failed races past
Fuelled by their spirits Monty speeds
Those gentle souls, this world it seems…no longer needs.
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6. |
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Let’s get a few things straight…
You find me pretty much everywhere except North America and Australia, in one of my sixteen varieties,
I’m not aggressive (unless you are really small),
I can run much faster than you think….. and….
I don’t do no-one’ s washing, ok?
I’m, scufflin’ and snufflin’, kinda perplexed
Workin’ my way, one backyard to the next.
Nose in the leaves, toes in the roots, Lookin’ for wrigglies, hedgehog loot.
Ain’t easy.
Them little guys are sure good at hidin’, wrigglin’ and atunnelin’ aroun’
..gotta work to eat! Hedgehoggliin’s not for everybody.
Ain’t that fussy,eat most things… providing it squirms, buzzes or’s dead already.
Some folk say we’s on the decline,
Less hedges, more fences, no grand design
that considers us guys. Like to keep out o’ sight,
Searchin’ f dem critters, not lookin’ for no fight.
And they say those guys gittin’ harder to find,
Somethin’s takin’ them down cos’ of what they’re eatin’.
I‘m thinkin’ there might be somethin’, C or someone aroun’ ‘ere,
wants to eat … most everything!
If it weren’t for the prickles, most likely eat us!
And folks, if y’ hear our coughs and sneezes,
That’s ‘cos we’re prone to displeasing diseases,
Slugs ’n snails not great. as it goes,
We prefer the ones wit legs an’ toes,
Centipedes,
Beetles, creepy crawlies…nothin’ with lungworm!
Know what I’m sayin! them little beggers, well they’re bad news for us
hedgies!
So: don’t run us over, leave holes in y’ walls and fences an’ check y’ bonfires before lightin’ ‘em. Think prickles, think hedgehog.
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7. |
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BLIND MEG’S RAG
Chorus.
When old Blind Meg goes out strolling
Dainty feet and belly rolling,
She can tell you just where she had been.
Though her eyes are sightless grey,
Ears, nose and whiskers show the way.
Blind Meg’s world does not need to be seen.
Verse 1
She never knows just who she will meet.
It might be a mouse or a parakeet.
Rhinoceros or bumble bee bzzzzz,
She gives them all a cheery grin,
Has no idea what day she's in.
Chorus.
Verse 2
And if old Blind Meg takes a fall,
Well she just gets up again, that's all.
She never asks "Why does it have to be me?"
She's happy with the deal she's dealt,
Discontent is something she has never, ever, ever ever felt.
Chorus.
Blind Meg was so happy,
Pretty slow, not too snappy.
Blind Meg was just one happy cat.
And that's a fact.
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8. |
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Chorus
It’s hard to say goodbye
It’s hard to say goodbye
It’s hard to pray that you’re going to fly
It’s hard to say goodbye.
Verse 1
Remember those days when you ran at each wave,
You were so fearless, so brave.
Sooner or later you came back to dry land
To find we could just walk on the sand.
And the times you left us below
For high places you dreamed you could go
You soared in the air, ignored my worried frown,
But I’d catch you if you came down
Chorus
Verse
But the time comes when we no longer can
Share in the magic between dog and man
Though trying your hardest your eyes can’t betray
You’re relying on me to send you on your way
Just a blink of an eye, that’s a life
But partings cut sharp as a knife.
Our friendship our love we can never deny
They are the stars in our sky
Chorus
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9. |
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Silent on the seabed:
slow eras of becoming,
since long before humanity
was dreamed of.
Layer
upon chalky layer:
gritty sand to luscious pearl.
late-ripening fruit
of oyster's
hermitage.
Wave
after saline wave.
Brittle shells
to glistening sand
as tides and moons wax
and dissolve.
Open to countless currents
stroking the shoreline.
secretly shining despite the debris
steadfastly approaching eternity
As the Ocean loses its savour
Compassion for the losing:
loss of beauty, and sheer life
in this World's dustbin.
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10. |
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Infinite blue, spin, tilt into
A joy I discover with glee
Huge sky above, is it real, is it true
Is this life that I’m in just for me?
Elation in flight
Pure joy, pure delight
Look up, just admire
Your beauty, oh how you inspire
Housemartin straight from the nest
I’ll throw, I can catch , I tease and amaze,
I dive and jump high in the air
I play through the days, through the night I will laze
Life’s such a happy affair!
You thrill and excite us
Sparkling so bright
Turning water to fire
Such grace, oh how you inspire
A dolphin plays on each wave’s crest
I’ll follow this man wherever he goes
As he whistles and call’s out my name.
As I run back and fro, certain that he knows
The name of this game that we play
So loyal and strong
As best friend you belong
By my side. Never tire
To love me, oh how you inspire
This joy only puppies’ possess.
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Animals are, without doubt, a crucial resource for humans but how much use are we to them? They sustain and support us in many, many ways but how much do we sustain them, other than for our own interests? How unequal is this apparently symbiotic relationship? And yet without us all, in all our amazing diversity, the world be a lesser and poorer place
All downloading income will go to Quaker Concern for Animals.
released October 30, 2018
To all my friends who inspire and contribute to all my songs in all sorts of ways.
