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WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, BILLY BOY
Where have you been all the day Billy Boy
Now you have put away all of your toys
I wish I had known you when you were a boy
But that's all gone now
I'll never forget when I first put you now
You were dancing all round the town
With your shoes all scuffed and your curly hair brown
But that seems such a long time ago now
When the wind blows you've got time on your hands
But when the time comes it blows by so fast
I'll dream of the days that are coming at last
When the wind blows Billy Boy
You in your innocence were such a sweet little thing
Now that's gone forever flown like birds on the wing
Did you ever regret it did you lose anything
Now it's all in the past Billy Boy
Where have you been all the years Billy Boy
You threw them away like you didn't know how
All for the sake of just living for now
Well I still love you Billy Boy
Now you and your sweetheart will walk hand in hand
You and the world and his wife make a stand
For all that we've ever held at our command
As you count down the years Billy Boy
Now the wind's blown all the time from your hands
Now the time's come will you blow by so fast
Or welcome the days that are here at last
When the wind blows Billy Boy
(Gary Miller)
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2. |
No Chance [Live]
03:40
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NO CHANCE
Tim Malone took the long road home
As the night was closing in
And the cruel wind struck and wailed in angry moans
With his scarf wrapped tight around his neck
And his cap pulled over his eyes
He fought to keep the cold out of his bones
As he passed by closed down factories
Waste ground and crumbling walls
He recalled the evening's events oh what a story
The cinema's woodbine smells
The patriotic war film as well
And the end to the tune of 'Land of Hope and Glory'
"Cheer up there bonnie lad"
Says the man who knows no cares
"It's no use crying needlessly"
(I'm all right Jack)
"Get up off your backside"
Says the man who knows it all
It’s no use waiting until your boat comes in
(I see no ships round here)
"Because you'll find out son it's never coming in"
At the shipyard on the quayside
He watched the men come out
And the boss said "Are you looking for a job"
He sang "Weel may the keel row"
To the tune of fifty quid
But the boss said "Try some busking with your gob"
(Weel may the keel row that my laddie's in)
He'd sit and curse at four grey walls
And watch his life go slowly by
Waiting for next pay Friday to come
Then he'd sit and sup his beer
Watch people come then disappear
And wonder if their lives were fashioned out of stone
(Gary Miller)
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3. |
William's Tale [Live]
04:55
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WILLIAM'S TALE
This is the town where I was born
It's the town where I live now
There’s many a tale to be told of this place
So I’ll tell one to you now
In Nineteen-O-One I entered the world
The year Victoria died
My mother died delivering me
How my father must have cried and cried
As a young lad of twelve
Just fresh out of school
I spent my first day in the mine
And it seemed like the hell
Of a dark prison cell
But Christ knows I'd committed no crime
The West Stanley Pit Disaster I remember it well
When a hundred and sixty-eight lost their lives
We were little more than slaves then
Growing old before our time
When the Fourteen-Eighteen Great War came
My father was among the first to go
He joined with the Durham Light Infantry
And we were proud of all the medals he won
Pozzieres, Mons and Ypres, Cambrai and the Somme
He fought in all the major campaigns
But when they shipped him back home at the end of it
He wasn't the father that I had once known
In Twenty-Six the General Strike
Saw all the men on the streets
And from Jarrow they marched in Thirty-Six
But all they got was blood on their feet
Half a century on it all happened again
It seems that some things never change
Jarrow cried and now Sunderland’s died
And strikes are still all the rage
When the Second World War came along
In Nineteen-Thirty-Nine
My son got a note from the government
Saying "We need your services son for a while"
Then they sent me a note at the end of it all
Saying "Sir your son did fine
Now he's buried in North Africa
You can visit him from time to time"
Now I sit here at home with my plaque on the wall
It's not much to show for my life
Of fifty-odd years of toil down the mine
It's been a long haul of struggle and strife
And now that the Tories are back in power again
It's driving me bloody insane
And now that the Eighties have become the 'Haties'
There's no future left for the bairns of today
(Gary Miller)
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4. |
Aall Faall Doon [Live]
05:14
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AALL FAALL DOON
There's a rumbling started underground
But it's falling on deaf ears
But who gives a shite what you think about it
We'll only grab ourselves some more beers
And someone said if we close our eyes
It might just go away
But we sang a song for collier lads
And one for the lass down on the quay
But still you never came down the waggon way
And in your town the land of clowns
It's just another day
You are still afraid you run and hide
You won't come out to play
And you've misunderstood everything we've ever said
And every point we've ever tried to make
But if I see you dancing on Mr Armstrong's grave
I'll come and give you a bloody good smack
Just to let you know that you don't know the crack
You stick your head in a hole in the ground
And wait for a time when we'll all fall down
But had away you stupid clown
We'll never go away
And in the land of fantasy
Where you seem to live
The ugly frog will become a handsome prince
But it will be too late then to forgive
And your writer's pen is spilling bad ink
And our mouth doesn't know what it's saying
It's in the place where your arse should be
So kiss yourself goodbye and be on your way
I never want to see you for the rest of my days
There's a rumbling started underground
But it's falling on deaf ears
And if you try to stop it
It will only end in tears
And someone said if we close our eyes
It might just go away
But we sang a song, we've just begun
And then we headed back down the waggon way
The bonnie pit laddie is here to stay
(Gary Miller)
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5. |
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ISN'T IT GRAND BOYS
Look at the coffin with golden handles
Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead
Let’s not have a sniffle
Let’s have a bloody good cry
And always remember the longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody well die
Look at the mourners bloody great hypocrites
Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead
Let’s not have a sniffle
Let’s have a bloody good cry
And always remember the longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody well die
Look at the flowers all bloody withered
Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead
Let’s not have a sniffle
Let’s have a bloody good cry
And always remember the longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody well die
Look at the preacher bloody sanctimonious
Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead
Let’s not have a sniffle
Let’s have a bloody good cry
And always remember the longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody well die
Look at the widow bloody great female
Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead
Let’s not have a sniffle
Let’s have a bloody good cry
And always remember the longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody well die
Look at the drunkard bloody great piss-head
Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead
Let’s not have a sniffle
Let’s have a bloody good cry
And always remember the longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody well die
(Trad. arr. The Whisky Priests)
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Gary Miller Durham, UK
Gary Miller first rose to international prominence with folk-punk/rock pioneers The Whisky Priests (1985-2002), founded with his twin brother Glenn - “the Joe Strummer and Mick Jones of Folk Music". He now performs as a solo artist and with his new band 'Gary Miller's Big Picture' whose debut album is coming soon. ... more
Gary Miller recommends:
Internationally acclaimed live double album by Mad Martins singer/songwriter Gary Miller's original band The Whisky Priests recorded at Markthalle, Hamburg on New Years Eve 1992. 23 glorious tracks!
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