Lyrics: Below the Waves
(Album - all songs)
Words, music Heidi Berry 1989. © Universal Music Publishing Group
RIBBONS
Let me take you by the hand
Let me hold your attention
And look in your eyes
Take the ribbons out of my hair
Shake it loose and let them blow away on the wind
On the wind
When I saw you standing there
I felt so moved that I pretended I didn’t care
In the half-light your smile said “stay”
But I couldn’t be sure
So I ran away
Ran away
Did I ever tell you the reason why
Did I ever say it’s just that I was shy
Did I ever tell you that you made me smile
Did I ever tell you the reason why
Did I ever say it’s just that I was shy
Did I ever tell you that you made me smile.
Let me take you by the hand
Let me hold your attention
And look in your eyes
Take the ribbons out of my hair
Shake it loose and let them blow away on the wind
On the wind
On the wind
BELOW THE WAVES
It’s quiet here
It’s warm here
It’s peaceful it’s dark
I am not lost
Not the way it was
Not the way you said
I am waiting
Far below the waves
I’m turning and turning
I roll with the tides
I am alone
I am all alone
I am whole
I am breathing
Far below the waves
I’m spark and I’m ember
And some kind of communion
I am not lost
This is all there is
This is all I am
I am waiting
Far below the waves
LITTLE TRAGEDY
Oh my dear what have you done
There’s blood upon your hands
Be quiet come in and shut the door
And I will wash you down
Be careful not to tell no one
Don’t want them all to know
About the little tragedy
That’s happening below
You put them to a trial
And you put them to a test
You’ve taken with your right hand
As you’re giving with your left
And now you come in dead of night
Like a lost Lady Macbeth
Looking for an absolution
And a place to rest
Oh my dear what have you done
There’s blood upon your hands
Be quiet come in and shut the door
And I will wash you down
Be careful not to tell no one
Don’t want them all to know
About the little tragedy
That’s happening below
LEGACY
Abandoned child, deserted room
In the dark smelling those dresses
Full of fading perfume
In the dead of night
The stumbling in the hall
The sound of breaking glass
As someone falls
See the child cry in shame
Turn her face to the wall
And be somehow made to feel that she’s to blame
It seems to me a legacy
Born of heartbreak and sorrow
Should never more be handed down
And taking it up in both your hands
You can dash it to the ground
Night rolls in, the ghosts come down
They wave their arms, in their long white gowns
(Their long white gowns)
In the dead of night they call to you
And I have heard their voices to
They say, “All is lost”
They say, “All is pain”
And if I can have my way, they’ll be calling in vain
It seems to me a legacy
Born of heartbreak and sorrow
Should never more be handed down
And taking it up in both your hands
You can dash it to the ground
In the dead of night
You run along the shore
And test your voice against the ocean’s roar
Let it roll away with the tide
Bringing back all you ever were denied
When you’ve nothing more to fear
You’ve nothing to hide
It seems to me a legacy
Born of heartbreak and sorrow
Should never more be handed down
And taking it up in both your hands
You can dash it to the ground
NORTHSHORE TRAIN
Pale in the morning sunlight, the seabirds fly by the factories. The electric towers stand in lines on the water's edge. Silhouetted cormorant arched it's wings to dry them at low tide, yesterday afternoon. In the mist of morning, 5 o' clock, sister drives me to the station.
We talk and laugh as we wait, then embrace, then say goodbye.
In silent, slow motion I ride the train beside the ocean.
In silent, slow motion I ride the train beside the sea.
Many words are in my heart I'll never say and feeling incomplete I'm bound away, and a deep red is the colour of the air today. So, we're riding through the hill town, watch the railway from your garden. Rollercoaster river train - now I look to see if I see her, from my window find the garden.
We're sailing past your house now, but I see the blinds are down.
In silent, slow motion I ride the train beside the ocean.
In silent, slow motion I ride the train beside the sea.
I am a lonely traveller in time, I'm counting out the years I'll never find.
And so sad and heavy is this heart of mine.
Well, we come at last to the city, you can feel its weight upon the ground. You wonder how to breath in an atmosphere of oil and noise.
This is where my father lives, though he was born beside the sea.
In silent, slow motion I ride the train beside the ocean.
In silent, slow motion I ride the train beside the sea.
GATHER ALL THE HOURS
One door opens, another closes
Frankincense and yellow roses
In a circle, I will lay them
And I will dress in a gown of white linen
Bring me roses
Bring me flowers
Gather all the hours
First will come the golden-haired child
Then the silver bird
Stand aside as the dark one follows
Who looks a lot like me
One day I walked through a hailstorm
The ice was falling on the ground
And when it all had come down
Then I knew what was lost and was found
In the moonlight, rise before me
Heal me with your hands, restore me
Sorry sail on salty ocean
With hollow words for dead and buried emotion
Bring me roses
Bring me flowers
Gather all the hours
First will come the golden-haired child
Then the silver bird
Stand aside as the dark one follows
Who looks a lot like me
One day I walked through a hailstorm
The ice was falling on the ground
And when it all had come down
Then I knew what was lost and was found
Bring me roses, bring me flowers
Gather all the tender hours
Bring me roses, bring me flowers
Gather all the tender hours
Bring me – roses.
RIVERSONG
You said that you don’t like walking in the rain
And talking to yourself
So you walk beside the river
Floating in the water with my head
I hear the fishes sing
This is what they say
“The water may be deep, but you’ve got to jump in
You know there’s no other way to learn to swim”
In the river
People are your sailing boats, your steppingstones
To keep your perfect feet dry as you cross the river
But you see you take more than you give
And get much more than you deserve
From the river
The water may be deep, but you’ve got to jump in
You know there’s no other way to learn to swim
In the river
ALL FOR YOU
It could be in your time
For it’s all within your reach
Take it all in your stride
And it’s for you
I see it there in your eyes
Like a splinter of the sky
You should never hide your light
‘cause it’s for you
I’m taking it slowly for now
Taking it slow for now
Was a time of dark days
Closed the curtains on the day
And you said it could never change
Yes, you did
Come the day when you find
You can leave all that behind
Then your light will truly shine
‘cause it’s for you
I’m taking it slowly for now
Taking it slow for now
And it’s all for you
Oh it’s all for you
Yes it’s all – oh it’s all for you
LIVING MEMORY
How you ask me to believe you
When I know that you have lied
You tell me the road is safe and even
But we
We’ve never come this way before
Does anyone really know
How far we can go
Does anyone really know
In the name of human progress
You conspire to hide your greed
You are the bird who fouls the nest
As you take more than you need
You and me
We’ve no place else to be
Does anyone really know
How far we can go
Does anyone really know
I have often wondered how it could ever come to be
We’ve seen the world get spoiled and poisoned
In living memory
Does anyone really know
How far we can go
Does anyone really know
DANCER
Wings of moths and robin’s nests
Watercolours of the sea
All things treasured, beautiful, but all decayed
Faded china dancer, paper skirts and painted curls
Close the curtains on the window of your room
Welcome to your madness
Welcome to your Lost Domain
Perform your music box ballet
In the cobweb and debris
Of your dream
Every injustice you’ve imagined or was real
You have catalogued and effigied and enshrined
Your making small wax dollies
Carefully modelled
With a kind of emotion somehow very close to love
We talk a walk in the sunshine
You stayed in the shade
And danced your music-box ballet
In the cobweb and the debris
Of your dream
Rockabye baby
Keep your eyes closed tight
Listen for the mermaids singing
In the cold and lonely oceans
Of the night
Blue and green glass bottles
Lying shattered on the floor
Violets falling from your diary page
Faded, rotting damask silk
The colour of the sky
Crumbles all away to powder
Under your touch
Deep inside your madness
As you rock yourself to sleep
The music-box goes around and around
In the cobweb and the debris
Of your dream