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Yellow Bird

from Reflections on War by Gary Miller

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a gorgeous digipak with a highly attractive 16-page full colour booklet including lyrics to all songs, beautiful individual full-colour track artwork (original paintings, drawings and sketches) and photos courtesy of York Museums Trust, individual track descriptions, CD liner notes by Gary Miller and Gaby Lees (York Art Gallery), photographs from the recording sessions featuring each individual session artist, photographs from the York Art Gallery workshop sessions, credits, etc.

    Includes FREE Postage for a limited time.

    IMPORTANT MESSAGE for non-UK buyers:
    Please be aware that if you are ordering from outside the UK, due to reasons beyond our control, you may be liable for additional charges, e.g. customs tax. Please note: we will NOT refund payment for any items refused or returned to us due to non-payment of these charges at point of delivery.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Reflections on War via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 7 days

      £6.99 GBP

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £0.69 GBP

     

about

Inspired by Shells Fillers (from ‘The Filling Factory’) 1918, an ink drawing by Charles Ginner (1878-1952) and dedicated to the women, knicknamed 'canaries', who worked in the munitions factories during both World Wars and who would often sing while they worked.

lyrics

YELLOW BIRD

Oh what has become of your gentle hands
That softly caressed a love so dear?
Now chemically stained and rough like sand
They caress mute packages of death and fear
On the Devil’s Altar behold each shell
Swing the mallet; force the powder in
Make them ready to deliver a gift from Hell
Pray your own luck is in

And sing my yellow bird sing

Oh what has become of your delicate face
That broke the hearts of the boys so dear?
So milk-white soft with a porcelain grace
Before the boys all marched from here
To remember you just as you were
Many never to return
Before your health was ruined beyond repair
And you watched your future burn

Sing my yellow bird sing

So far from the effect
You fight for the cause
Steadfast on your alternate frontline
For excitement, for the money, or to do your bit
Or to live up to the boys
To whom you waved goodbye

Oh what has become of your beautiful mind?
Tell me now how do you view the world?
Through the warlike nature of humankind
And your own contentment in your dangerous work
Do you see the devastation in your dreams?
Are you wracked and torn with guilt?
Or has your heart grown immune to the nightmare screams
Of an innocence that can never be rebuilt?

Sing my yellow bird sing

For the Barnbow Lassies and the Gretna Girls
The Woolwich Arsenal gang aswell
And all those munitionettes who fell
From England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales
To their counterparts on the whole world stage
“Grant them O Lord eternal rest
And let perpetual light shine upon them”

Sing my yellow bird sing

Sing of the peace that the dove may bring
Take wing my yellow bird take wing
Take heart, risk flight, break out of your cage
Roam free in the light where wars don’t rage
Never worry about a thing

And sing my yellow bird sing

(Gary Miller)

credits

from Reflections on War, released January 1, 2010
Gary Miller - vocals, guitar, mandolin, octave mandolin, percussion
Iain Petrie - electric guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, backing vocals

license

all rights reserved

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about

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

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