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Somewhere there’s a line in the sand Somewhere there’s a map, there’s a plan Hear the thunder roar The drums of war See the fires burn again The lines of marching men Someone has a a vision of how things should be So the black snake will wind through the valleys Through bones and empty farms and poppy fields Past the the tulips and wild flowers The barbed wire and the towers To the great ships waiting at the sea Somewhere there’s a line in the sand Somewhere there’s the death of a man Somewhere a decision is made far away Hear the sky scream again The whine of great engines Hear the thunder roar To pound the earth to pound the heart The power of steel the power of fire And the iron horse will go through The iron fist will rule Twisting in the old country And the fruit of all this toil The pipelines and the oil The railways and the roads to the sea Through the tulips and wild flowers The barbed wire and the towers To light the lamps of great cities
‘THIS WAR IS ABOUT OIL’
George H W Bush
‘I HAD TAKEN THE VIEW WE NEEDED REALLY, TO RE-MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST’
A. Blair
For the people who live alone out in the wilderness. They are not always lonely.
I was born by border where the forest meets the plain Before me were the roadways to fortune and fame But behind was the mountain with her valleys black as night That drew me like an ember away from the light. And I am bound I am tied I am chained to the mountainside I was warned of the autumn and the mist that comes with the dawn I was warned of the wolves in winter coming closer to the farm I was warned of the spring ice and the summer adder’s bite But I still chose the darkness and the stars of the night I am bound I am tied I am chained Once I had a lover long long ago We parted in the valley by the green waterfall And sometimes I hear her singing on a warm summer’s eve I know to never answer she’s calling to me And I am bound I am tied And here beside the fountain with it’s waters cold and clear I sit and watch the heavens the turning of the year And the creatures of the forest draw close to me at night I see their yellow eyes shining in the dying firelight And I am bound I am tied I am chained to the mountainside
I used to visit the former East Germany to play music as a guest of the FDJ, the ‘Free German Youth’. I have a lot of memories from those days; of a country so different from anywhere else I had been to, without advertising, almost without crime, but also without choice. I remember the people I met, when in July 1989 I had a holiday in East Berlin. Then I watched as the wave of history washed over them. There was a border control at Friedrichstrasse station, known as Der Tränenpalast, The Palace Of Tears.
The steel gate shuts behind me Like the bolt of a Russian gun Part of the wall around us That keeps us on the run Well it cuts right through this city It cuts right through my heart It cuts right through this country And keeps our worlds apart Past the grey stone walls Shattered by the marks of war The tide mark of a century So many died for And the statues were silent On that cold rainy day Waiting for the cranes To take them all away I remember your flat in it’s faded grandeur You said that it suited you Well it suited me too I look back on those days with love and anger That we never dared dream We’d see the wall crashing down And the world rushing in We lay on the floor With the double doors open We didn’t talk about time Our love was unspoken We knew that I would leave again tomorrow You could never follow We watched the rain coming down
You walked me back to the checkpoint Back to the clamour And the lights of the western world And there by the sickle and the hammer I said goodbye my dear Like so many others here At the Palace of Tears Auf Wiedersehn mein Herz We said goodbye at the Palace of Tears Now the checkpoints are demolished The city has survived The losers and the winners Just get on with their lives If I talked about the good things From the bad old days You’d say it’s nostalgia And I don’t understand the time that’s gone to waste You walked me back to the checkpoint Back to the clamour And the lights of the western world And there by the sickle and the hammer I said goodbye my dear Like so many others here At the Palace of Tears Auf Wiedersehn mein Herz We said goodbye at the Palace of Tears
I dreamed I saw a giant asleep upon the land The brown hills of the Highlands he cradled in his hands And I dreamed the giant had a smile upon his face For all the loves he thought he’d lost had never gone to waste No, they all came back to forgive him And to his great surprise They understood his passions From the fire in his eyes He left his giant footprints all over their white sand But they forgave his foolish ways and all that he had done When he loved he loved them truly and never meant to part And when he cried, he cried a river, with all his giant heart Now all these years and their players have passed away Like so many dreams of the hills of our childhood days He turned to face the morning, that way his journey lies He reached for the horizon, where the sun would rise And I dreamed the giant was never more to wake His lover was the sky now, she’d help him on his way And I watched until the dawn came And I saw him melt away Till all that’s left is the outline Of the hills of our childhood days And we’ll drink a glass to friendship and to home We used to say wha’s like us, damn few, and they’re all gone Now all these years and their players have passed away Like so many dreams of the hills of our childhood days
This is a song about my Scottish roots. The mountains on Aran form the silhouette of a sleeping giant. I have been in Scotland every year of my life, although now it is often for a funeral. There is a reference to a quote from Saladin’s first biographer, Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad writing in the 13th century. At the end of the book he said: ‚NOW ALL THESE YEARS AND THEIR PLAYERS HAVE VANISHED, IT IS AS IF THEY NEVER EXISTED’.
Destroying Angel ... I met you in the forrest At the fading of the day You looked so sweet and innocent You were so innocent I thought that I could dally I thought that I could play Pure and almost holy I almost prayed Destroying Angel, dressed in white You tempt destruction with every bite Oh fair deceiver, you wait and call Dissolving hearts, the willing fall You stood there in the twilight With a smile upon your face You’d waited for a century For some fool to fall from grace Mirror to my weakness I tried to cry or run I felt my liver melting I knew what I had done Destroying Angel ... I never thought that I could do that But I knew that I could fall Oh I never thought that I would do that But I knew that I could fall
Is it me that brings corruption To this quiet wooded glade? To curse the fair deceiver And try and pass the blame? I knew what I was doing To taste the flesh so white I knew that it would take me As I took the second bite Destroying Angel ... And I never thought that I could do that What else could I have done? Oh I never thought that I could do that Well I guess I should have run Oh I know I should have run Destroying Angel ...
The forest in Sweden is a dangerous place, it always has been. Not just because you can get lost, robbed or murdered, but because it is a place of temptation. Many tales were told about a beautiful woman you might meet on a lonely path, beware, it could be the spirit called SkogsrĂĽ who has seduced many a willing victim. The Destroying Angel is the beautiful but deadly fungi, Amanita Virosa. Should you be tempted to taste the white flesh, it will kill you slowly as the enzymes dissolve your heart and liver. The old Gods, elves and sprites have vanished now, but temptation remains.
Her name was Karin And on the King’s birthday She put on her best bonnet for the town parade You can see from this photograph From a very different time She wants you all to know this is her prime For she was a beauty of renown In this small market town She’s a marriageable age She turned sixteen today Now that she’s blossomed She can spread her wings and fly If only to the pine tree tops nearby She’s on the threshold Of all that is to come She can feel her power she can be someone She might have that chance to choose To be a tradesman’s wife And to wear the apron blue Or she might just fly away And the boys came down, they lined up to stare In their new suits and hats that they wear Ill fitting suits for ill fitting lives The choices are here, we all compromise And the band played a waltz for the King The courting began we’re caught up and caught in If your luck is true and you catch the right eye You live with that choice for the rest of your life
There is a photo in the town museum of Malmköping where I live, taken in 1885. A crowd stands outside the town hall, dressed in their best clothes. At the end of a day like this there would certainly have been a dance, a chance for young couples to pair up. I wondered what happened to that girl in the centre of the picture? In those days choices were limited, maybe hers were limited to the boys in the photo.
Her name was Karin And long ago she bloomed Like so many others a little too soon You can see from this photograph How she stood out from them all Even though she faded long ago And lost her lovely looks so young Or rather passed them on To another who will come to another town parade On another King’s birthday
And I carry I carry that river I feel it flowing in my veins And I’m riding, riding these rapids And I don’t know where it will end Like the drawings, the drawings of dreams So incomplete, like the unseen I dreamed a dream and I thought we had spoken You smiled so sadly that was enough Never nearer than the shadows, Maybe that’s all, we’ll ever know And I’d like to meet all my fathers and mothers All the way back through the shadows of time I’d like to tell them, tell them they did so well Just to survive, and I will survive And all the tears of Isis All the waters of the Nile They bring me bring me their blessings I am their orphan child And I went down I went to the river I felt the waters touch my skin I let my fingers break the tension Between the seen and the unseen Never nearer than the shadows, Maybe that’s all
And all the tears of Isis All the waters of the Nile They bring me bring me their blessings I am their orphan child Never nearer than the shadows Maybe that’s all that is revealed Like finding the source the source of some great river Is just a muddy field
And I’ll raise a stone in bonny Scotland I’ll splash whiskey on the ground I’d like to do my very best for you And never never let you down And all the tears of Isis All the waters of the Nile They bring me bring me their blessings I am their orphan child Never nearer than the shadows Maybe that’s all that is revealed Like finding the source of a great river Is just a muddy field
When Isis cried, her tears formed the river Nile. So much of our culture started in Egypt and came from that great river. This is a song for our ancestors.
I do believe in the simple life And when you find the right one you need never part again We found each other here in the dust Among the towers of steel and rust It was love in the docklands till night turned to day And now I hear the calling of the dove again The cobbled streets look just the same Glistening wet in the morning rain As I followed the lights till the end of the street And I found the bar where we used to meet It’s 4.00am and the lamps are low They’re playing the same music on the radio Tamla Motown never gets old But chances come and chances go And oh, so much time has passed Another show has another cast And other actors fill our shoes And the harbour town sings the harbour blues Things can never be the same Ships move on but the docks remain And I can hear the calling of the dove again The ice ship lies sleeping by the harbour wall How I long to hear those diesels roar And cut me a channel through this pack ice That locks our hearts come back to me tonight I used to believe I had only cold blood in my veins And now I hear the calling of the dove again I found your letter in a box one day And reading it again in another way I can see maybe we had a chance But we gave up on that big romance There were ties, I couldn’t see I didn’t know what you meant to me But I’ll just say thanks memories like this Have been a comfort in the wilderness And now I’m back in this harbour town Think I’ll take the time and look around Things can never be the same Ships move on but the docks remain And I can hear the calling of the dove again
I like harbour towns, they welcome strangers and often have the best bars. Hamburg is one of my favourite.
A lot of people have foolish dreams, perhaps it is also foolish not to dream. Recorded in the old church in Dunker, near to where I live.
It’s the middle of the day and I’m still dreaming I don’t feel a rush to leave this mood Well I think I got myself into believing I’m touched by something good In a few more hours, I’ll be right as rain Your familiar friend But just for now, I’ll be living in This foolish dream It’s not the blade of pain or sorrow That got to me today It’s a taste so rare I don’t want to swallow If I can let it just fade away
A taste of love, rarely comes along But it came my way today And it could be wrong, but it’s oh so wrong to waste....the taste As a feather falls, I will touch the ground In my own good time Then I’ll turn around, never looking back At this foolish dream These shapes of coloured glass moving in my window Will have to be enough for now I think I fell a little in forbidden love I can let it last a little while And then leave behind what almost had to be Another song unsung I’m not such a fool, as truly to believe In foolish dreams
‘Grinds Hans’ jässpödspolska från Rättvik efter Börjes Olle
When time divides a point is passed Never can unsay those words A mood can change from light to dark When the curtain falls I saw my friend so happy there His tears were tears of laughter The candle burned it’s brightest flame As we watched the dancer So I guess I’ll take you home Then you’re on your own I’ll say it again It’s for the last time Come on and take a bow We’ll get you back somehow When the curtain falls
Based on an old Swedish polska. All parties have to come to an end, eventually. Written on the way back from the Tønder Festival in southern Denmark.
They say that sometimes drunk man’s words Are thoughts he has when sober The hell hound’s never far away His muzzle’s on your shoulder And sure we had a good time here Until the dark clouds gathered The parting glass is empty now It never really mattered So I’ll take you home again My special friend I’ll say it again it’s for the last time The demons of the day All come back to bay When the curtain falls And now we’re floating down the street The music’s getting fainter The hardest part of every day Is knowing when it’s over And thank you beer, thank you wine For all of our times together Everybody stand Raise a glass in hand A toast to better weather When the curtain falls
ALL WORDS AND MUSIC BY RAY COOPER EXCEPT FOR [TRACK 10] ’GRINDS HANS’ JÄSSPÖDSPOLSKA FRÅN RÄTTVIK EFTER BÖRJES OLLE, TRADITIONAL RECORDED AND PRODUCED AT THE LOVE SHACK MALMKÖPING BY RAY COOPER SONG FILE TRANSFERS STUDIO AMBASSADEN ESKILSTUNA / ENGINEER PATRICK MIXING AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION BY AL SCOTT AT THE METWAY BRIGHTON
TAUNU
RAY COOPER LEAD VOCALS, CELLO, GUITAR, KANTELE, HARMONICAS, MANDOLIN, PERCUSSION, HARMONIUM, BASS GUITAR GUSTAV ANDERSSON PIANO, ORGAN, HARMONIUM AND STRING ARRANGEMENT ON «PALACE OF TEARS» ROWAN GODEL VOCAL HARMONIES JENNY TIDMAN AND PATRIK ANDERSSON VIOLINS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY VOLKER NEUMANN AND JUDITH COVERARTWORK BY NEOMANIA DESIGN
BURROWS
WWW.RAYCOOPER.ORG Thanks to: My ancestors, my family and all the many people who have helped and encouraged me, in particular; Al Scott, Ulli Hetscher, Bogenmeister Thies Köhn, Colonel Tom Povey, the Reverend Jürgen Hannes, Kulturchef Jimmy Eriksson, Henrik Widell, First Mate Caz White, Monika Dürrer and Anni De Smedt. Thanks also to Newtone Strings.
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