Get all 22 Chris Webb releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Heaven Sent, Vigil, Clown For Sale, Bungalow Acoustic, Chris Webb Band live at the Grain Barge, The Monkey In The Jukebox, Webb and Milburn, Maisonette, and 14 more.
1. |
Fifth and Final
03:40
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We wandered down the Bristol docks and dreamt of going to sea
If we sent out a necklace made of bottle caps we'd find it eventually
So dress warm, stay free, the salt in the air isn't bare enough for me. And ride fortunes, wave home. You're a sailor, a pilot, a pirate, a tug on a string
I heard a voice down in Omaha, it was singing a melody
Was it 'Royal City' verse, or Adam in the room serenading your journey east?
So dress warm, stay free, the salt in the air isn't bare enough for me. And ride fortunes, wave home. You're a sailor, a pilot, a pirate, a tug on a string
So at night I hear a whispering, the trees singing shanties all night.
As a plane soared high and a boat sailed on, I jumped on a train out of spite.
Cause out of sight means out of love, the mind is wherever you dream
So in the fifth and final stage of grief I watch from my balance beam
So dress warm, stay free, the salt in the air isn't bare enough for me. And ride fortunes, wave home. You're a sailor, a pilot, a pirate, a tug on a string
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2. |
Against the Grain
03:28
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You set me up with confidence and a plan
To rule the world, to be a man
Whose only skill was stealing from the rest
But I quickly knew that this wasn't the best of news
For I'd sit there for hours in a tiny little room
In the hope that maybe one minute soon
A cup of tea would save the day
My fingers grew sore as my hair was going grey
Your ideas go against the grain
If I was you I'd start again
If you pay the man for a job well done
The scene you make won't come undone
Like an absent lover, I suppose it's fair to say
You'd disappear knowing I would find a way
To exercise my talents for the benefit of your flat
I cut my teeth there but I love it just for that
And much like that room, the pub is where I learned
To sing my songs to a room and discern
The good from the bad but as far as I'm concerned
It's behind me, there's light ahead, that much I earned
Your ideas go against the grain
If I was you I'd start again
If you pay the man for a job well done
The scene you make won't come undone
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3. |
Silent Man
03:45
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I'm a silent man in a silent city
I tried to talk back, well, what a pity
That in a town like this it pays to be funny
My awkward way of singing makes more sweat than money
The doctor said "Don't worry, it's a case of the flu.
Take two of these and run a bath and move to countries too."
Was it flu or a broken heart, was that even a doctor?
I take my own advice you see, I've learned to take things slow
I'm a silent man in a silent city
I tried to talk back, well, what a pity
That in a town like this it pays to be funny
My awkward way of singing makes more sweat than money
Well the pretty nurse is taking all the poppies for herself
With a tray littered with needles and the past in her blood
Well I know that's pessimistic but the world it is in change
I'm trying hard to find a place to sing all by myself
And the clubs are awash with a beat and a dance
It's got to be cool, I gave it a chance but
I'm a silent man in a silent city
I tried to talk back, well, what a pity
That in a town like this it pays to be funny
My awkward way of singing makes more sweat than money
I'm a silent man in a silent city
I tried to talk back, well, what a pity
That in a town like this it pays to be funny
My awkward way of singing makes more sweat than money
I'm an average guy in a modern city
So I exact my revenge on the rich and the pretty
And if I go out in a blaze of glory
At least my songs will tell the story
I'm an intro/extroverted no one
I'll chat left and right then curse the sunrise
If all seems lost I've got my hairline
I'm a mild-mannered boy like my old man
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4. |
Fools and Jesters
03:42
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When you're sad he said to always be as sad as you can be
When short days and early nights came to threaten me
A winter full of smoke rings and broken violins
A winter full of dynamite and seven deadly sins
And once I found the antidote to me
I poisoned it by falling free
We swore off love and let the others know
But soon enough those fires did glow
Well I'd make a cup of tea and let the son of a bitch go cold
An excuse to make another like my buddy had foretold
As cider flowed through evenings it pushed me up to walls
And I had to say "I love you" just so someone would feel whole
And once I found the antidote to me
I poisoned it by falling free
We swore off love and let the others know
But soon enough those fires did glow
Then soon enough as robins flew from seasonal to cold
I took a lady climbing cause the charm was getting old
She told me I was wrong when we looked up through a hole
And we saw a star was winking like a fire burning coal
And once I found the antidote to me
I poisoned it by falling free
We swore off love and let the others know
But soon enough those fires did glow
Then by January we knew that it was useless to resist
A walk in sand forgotten by the story on your lips
Me a fool, you a jester, making only ourselves laugh
While the days were getting longer, you found my other half
And once I found the antidote to me
I poisoned it by falling free
We swore off love and let the others know
But soon enough those fires did glow
And once we told each other all those things
That lovers do when birds can't sing
We knew we'd found a story fit for kings
Then winter fled to let in spring
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5. |
Moonlanding
02:35
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A year quickly passed from the plane to this home
I was a boy, you had a boy
I toured 'cross the land till my head found a song
Black-bottomed jeans worn at the seams like me
In New York lay a memory of love going wrong
She was a girl, she wanted the world
And I wanted to take all the countries to her
What did I know, how could I know
As we slipped down the runway with wheels fit to burst
I wanted to land, the sky held the worst
Of those old days pretending my heart was on the mend
I felt whole again, ten out of ten, full marks
And who should I find on an old muddy track?
You and your boy, unexpectedly coy
An old friend and smile sought to lift the balloon
Found years ago, how could we know
What it would become, what we would become?
If only we knew all the things we could do
With our black-bottomed jeans worn at the seams
It seems, it seems that all our stories form to make up the moon
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6. |
Passing Ships
03:49
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She goes to sleep in her new bedclothes
Listens for the creaky stair
As he skulks down and tastes the water
It tastes as bitter as a lie
He goes to work in his new sportscar
She dreams of times they spent alone
And through the day she sees his warm smile
In the faces of their sons
Like passing ships in the night they will call out the new names from the roof like Juliet in the night. They will toil, till death they will part every day.
He comes back home to find her standing
In her dirty uniform
He kisses her and lives the past days
And in that moment they are teens
She says goodbye and pulls the door closed
He says good evening to his boys
And by the time they're all together
They're together in a dream
Like passing ships in the night they will call out the new names from the roof like Juliet in the night. They will toil, till death they will part every day.
They dress up nice to see the family
They ask the questions, eat the cake
When asked if family life is okay
They smile and and say that it's all good news
Like lovers do they share a coy smile
Knowing love will pull them through
They work the jobs to pay the mortgage
And live for weekends in the pub, in the kitchen, in that old messy house
Like passing ships in the night they will call out the new names from the roof like Juliet in the night. They will toil, till death they will part every day.
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7. |
Scrapbook Part One
03:30
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A lovers' war took the crown as summer took their bodies down to yellow grass which housed the rugs near busy roads. A scrap of luck did disappear the angry buzz of morning horns from drivers, just as clouds fell back onto their pillows. The lovers drank the nature's pose and this side of winter there's a storm that's heading west. This English summer could feast on losing bets like a child cryin' out for air.
A scrapbook filled with letters and that memory of her injured hand wrapped in yours by the old blue stream, the pages spell out a movie scene. Entwined in prose and untidy scrawls, the lovers scratch their names on walls. Immortalising that romance dream we pretend to hate when we're troubled teens and this side of winter there's a storm that's heading west. This English summer could feast on losing bets like a child cryin' out for air. This side of winter, there's a storm that's heading west like a child cryin' out for air.
And we dance on childhood beds.
A lovers' war fuelled by guns, in scrapbooks words would fire rounds. Erase him from your life and burn the pages in the broken furnace and this side of winter there's a storm that's heading west. This English summer could feast on losing bets like a child cryin' out for air.
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8. |
Strange New Feelings
03:41
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A strange new life for me to see
A whole new world for you to sing
And after all those lies I told
I'm finding grass beneath the old
Stones unturned on an English day
So stone me
I'm a liar, I'm lying to myself
It was over with everybody else
Now my secret is coming to the fore:
We're the good guys duelling a lovers' war
So cut the brakes and pierce the tank
And stop this wreck before it wrecks
Cause after all, I'm wrong for you
I'm finding grass beneath the new
Stones unturned on an English day
So stone me
I'm a liar, I'm lying to myself
It was over with everybody else
Now my secret is coming to the fore:
We're the good guys duelling a lovers' war
If I can't afford the consequence, I shouldn't play the game
If I can't afford the consequence, I shouldn't play the game
If you knew I'd like the consequence you'd never let me leave the
Stones unturned on an English day
So stone me
I'm a liar, I'm lying to myself
It was over with everybody else
Now my secret is coming to the fore:
We're the good guys duelling a lovers' war
I'm a liar, I'm lying to myself
It was over with everybody else
Now my secret is coming to the fore:
We're the good guys losing a lovers' war
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9. |
The Best Thing We Can Do
03:15
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Today we loved a daydream, wrapped in blankets tight sleeping through a smoke alarm; mine would feel the fright.
Like a fox in rain, staring at headlights, creeps into the dark
She'd bury her head on my shoulder and light my inner spark
But we were reaching out like fairy lights
The carnival's in town
Projecting lives into the future
Then burn the whole thing down like a fairytale wolf
We let it go, we always held the cards
We dared to dream and risked esteem to see it fall apart
But we were reaching out like fairy lights
The carnival's in town
Projecting lives into the future
Then burn the whole thing down like a fairytale wolf
We let it go, we always held the cards
We dared to dream and risked esteem to see it fall apart
Today I loved a daydream wrapped in blankets tight.
We say we could just go for it but we know we'd just change our minds
So our hearts reach out and take away
It's the best thing we can do
You always said you were a lyrics girl
So I guess these are for you
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10. |
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So fourteen months have passed and I would hate to say I'm lonely
I've tried, I swear, to pack all of my feelings in a box
So when carrying my baggage I can still act kind of friendly
And open it at leisure and connect my dot-to-dot
When I come home and turn those keys and listen for that sound
Of rustling sheets, of memories, I put the next one home, I put it home
But at evening comes a curse, a crossroads where
I'm doomed to take the wrong way home
If silence leads to verse and better is for worse
I'll stumble and choose reverse
I've met some pretty women, sure, I talk about them daily
I've danced with legs and feet entwined with friends and lovers too
And I've drank the wine and told them we should go and crash a ceilidh
And dance our laces tangled and request our favourite tunes
When I come home and hear those keys they jingle in my head
They're like Christmas songs, I sing along, and I put the next one home, I put it home
But at evening comes a curse, a crossroads where
I'm doomed to take the wrong way home
If silence leads to verse and better is for worse
I'll stumble and choose reverse
I guess all that I'm saying is I'm waiting and I'm changing
The mirror's showing confidence but weakness in the eyes
But like memories in my box, sometimes I swear that I am crazy
I should sleep, I should be dreaming, not be writing honest lies
When I come home and turn those keys and listen for that sound
Of rustling sheets, of memories, I put the next one home, I put it home
But at evening comes a curse, a crossroads where
I'm doomed to take the long way home
If silence leads to verse and better is for worse
I'll stumble and choose reverse
But if silence leads to verse and better is for worse
I'll stumble and choose reverse
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11. |
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The party was over, a Friday night adventure
All lying in make-shift beds, the morning spilling sober
But we know that's gin, not water, sulking in the glass
Well everything's cold south of the morn'
So light up a firework
Let us all go down to the corner, where we get older
And everyone swears that it's the same
But the games rules change and we're fools to pain
It's always tomorrow, we always loved the mad ones
Today is a mirror reflecting wine and sad songs
We sit on our hands to stop us reaching for the glass
Well everything's cold south of the morn'
So light up a firework
Let us all go down to the corner, where we get older
And everyone swears that it's the same
But the games rules change and we're fools to pain
The star-crossed song, the broken man, all tattooed on your guilty hands
Well everything's cold south of the morn'
So light up a firework
Let us all go down to the corner, where we get older
And everyone swears that it's the same
But the games rules change and we're fools to pain
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12. |
Croatia
03:43
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A year ago today I saw a faint mirage
A woman standing tall singing "Bon voyage!"
Legs in a skirt and arms on piano
Singing songs in harmony knowing I would go
Till she disappeared
And now I am home in the stars
Oh well, count me out, the strings in box are a novel's page
So please don't help me out, stay in the sun with your horseshoe smile
Well it's funny what can happen when you let it free
The shoreline finds you when you're lost at sea
You swear solitude with your hand on book
Then you wrap the book in ribbons and your start to look your best
Just as she is dressed up in red for you
Oh well, count me out, the strings in box are a novel's page
So please don't help me out, stay in the sun with your horseshoe smile
Well every song I've written is a photograph in time
So consider this a snapshot with a pleasing rhyme
I hope a year from now this photo is on a disc
As it spins an old story from the dusty depths of a car radio
And tells of a song and a time like this one
Oh well, count me out, the strings in box are a novel's page
So please don't help me out, stay in the sun with your horseshoe smile
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13. |
Hold Me Back
03:45
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I'm a simple mind, a minute hand counting down the hours and smiling when I get through one whole day
I'm a joyous type, a jester's clown, so leave me high and don't bring me down.
Stand right there and put the kettle on
If I grow up, hold me back
Cause the train's too close to tie me down
And don't tell me lies, hold me up to the light of the sun
And if I start to burn, hold me back
Those dark days are for me not you
I've a better half who's welcome too
So leave your key under the stone
And don't be the smog on an old viewpoint
If you kick through air with spite conjoined
You'll hurt the ones who want you there
If I grow up, hold me back
Cause the train's too close to tie me down
And don't tell me lies, hold me up to the light of the sun
And if I start to burn, hold me back
And if you ever want to say all of the things you never say, then tell me once and don't delay to tell me quickly that you're wrong. Cause it's the beer that brings it on, the nerves, the lonely comments, all wrapped up in neatly patterned bows. And if I tell you that this hurts then please say sorry for the pain but don't be silent, start again. We'll play some pool and other games to get us started like before. I know you've never been this way: from whole beginnings we were much the same. So be the jazz man, be the man who cared for nothing but our health.
If I grow up, hold me back
Cause the train's too close to tie me down
And don't tell me lies, hold me up to the light of the sun
And if I start to burn, hold me back
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Chris Webb Bristol, UK
Dictionary Samba
Wordy folk nonsense
Turtle Jazz
chriswebbmusic@live.com if you want me for something
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