Acoustic jazz folk – Lyrics from portraits of life and love – a new album from Cindy Stratton

Lyrics and notes from Portraits of Life and Love
All Fall Apart When I heard that baby cry, Well I thought I’d tear my soul out Through my own eyes And we all fall apart sometimes Even the wise make mistakes sometimes Well I’m all washed out and upside down Like a party queen who lost her crown And we all fall apart sometimes Even the wise make mistakes sometimes Baby if you’re in the ocean Won’t you swim back to my shore You know I need you more than I can say I can’t take it anymore I can’t take it anymore Don’t put me on a pedestal Cos’ it’s cold and dark up there I don’t need to be your special one I just need to know you care And be allowed to fall apart sometimes Even the wise make mistakes sometimes Falling Snow Crystalline waters flow In a place I used to go Sometimes Air is bright Air is clean I think you know what I mean This time Come with me I will take you And We will go Somewhere cold Falling snow On our own Check the lights In the sky Falling down On us And you know they won’t catch us here And you know it’s not like running away Hey, hey All is quiet All is calm This is nature’s healing balm, Come with me and you will see Whatever there is to be Step this way I will show you And We will go etc The Wild One They called him a wild one He wouldn’t settle down Oh, such a wild one Never settle down Oh daddy, don’t be scared I know you never cared And the spotlight fades to black And you’re not coming back Fall like an angel Right into her arms She tried to contain him Tried to use her charms Oh mother, don’t be sad Those dreams you always had Will light up the stars in the sky And you don’t have to know why Why, why, why Over and over and over and over and over again Bats in the Belfry Moon though the window Rain on the tarmac Scars on her fingers She’s never coming back Flights of fancy Fuel imagination Birds flying slowly In formation Oh, she wants to go Up where the birds fly Put her in an aeroplane Send her up to the sky Bats in the belfry Mice in the basement Bills on her doormat Final statements Oh she wants to go etc. Sometimes strangers offer more than friends do Entertain a different point of view Autumn Morning Silence falls The days start dark She crawls The past has left it’s mark And it’s burning inside Like a hunger, Won’t be denied Right here, right now, right here, right now It’s time to begin Life starts again Life starts again Even on an autumn morning You and I won’t last long Fish out of water don’t last long But now we’re strong Now we’re strong Life starts again etc.	Beyond Black Beyond black Seeing things that are not there Here’s a ghost upon the stair Not a loving friendly face Not a living member of the human race You should be afraid You should be afraid Very afraid Beyond black Seeing things beyond the grave Put you on the gravy train Is he here again today? Living with the not so dead Hides the monster in your head Does it help to ease your pain? You should be afraid etc Warrior Far away to foreign lands He must go He must go Hear the drum beat sound He must go He must go Oh my son the warrior, Oh my son x2 You look so fine in your uniform Yeah you do Yeah you do And I would die a thousand times If I could stop you From going Oh my son the warrior etc And in my waking sleep Where I dare not dream In case I see the ghost of things to come And I come undone (Bleakly goes the time when you’re away from those you love) Tears Fall Like Rain You seem fragile as a flower Yet I know you to be strong How the mind works very slowly When you’ve been static for so long And the days seem very empty And the nights are far too long You were promised your salvation lay in waiting As you sit inventing reasons to be quiet and alone You must know that you are stalling Praying for time And the clock just keeps on ticking Show your hand show your hand And your tears Fall like rain But I know who you really are Etc Though you change Like the seasons And your tears fall like rain All Roads People say they there’s always a reason why Why things happen like they do Once upon a time You know that I I used to believe that too And I was always searching for answers to questions Trying to find My own truth And I just couldn’t believe there was nothing to believe in But belief in itself And search my heart Search my heart All roads lead to you No mountain to high No valley to wide In my passionate youth Well I vowed that I would keep on searching Searching high and low Until I found the truth And I just couldn’t believe there was nothing to believe in But belief itself Search my heart Search my heart All roads lead to you Got in far too deep Haunts me in my sleep How I tried to make a change But everything just stayed the same Deep in my heart Search my heart etc Rocking the Boat I’m the one you thought you’d forgotten I’m the one you thought you’d left behind Try to turn me into nothing Try to lose the very thing you wanted to find And look at all the things you’ve done now And all of the people you know Look at how far you’ve come now But do you really know Just how far you’ll go To stop the hand from rocking the boat I need to shake you out of your complacency I want to make you see You belong to me Still belong to me Travelled oh so far just to find you All the way across the ocean wide You try to turn me into nothing Try to lose the very thing you wanted to find And look at all the things you’ve done now etc I need to shake you out of your complacency etc You belong to me Still belong to me	Cindys' Notes All Fall Apart This song was inspired by a story line from ER…the one where Abby is really struggling to hold it all together, look after her baby while Luka is away, do her job at the hospital, fight her demons, her alcoholism ….I don’t know why but one episode where Abby is drunkenly trying to comfort the crying baby and spilling the milk or something, had me sobbing….(doesn’t always take much!) and this little song appeared. I guess I just really liked that programme and in particular those two characters…and any mum can relate to feeling overwhelmed at times. We all have our breaking point, but we come back if we’re lucky, and sometimes all we need is a bit of support and understanding…. Falling Snow A friend and I were planning a trip to the French mountains in the winter and having never been to that part of the world at that time of year before, my imagination was captivated by the thought of fresh air, snow, scenery and a sense of rejuvenation. Beyond Black The very brilliant book ‘Beyond Black’ by Hilary Mantel provided the inspiration for this song. It’s a fantastic read, darkly funny and painfully sad sometimes. One of its’ two central characters is a medium… Rocking the Boat Another song inspired by a brilliant read, this time ‘Your Blue Eyed Boy’ by Helen Dunmore.