Fairport Convention

[fox69]

"Iron Lion"

"Iron Lion"


Now I've been an engine driver all of my days
That's the only thing I can do
I hold a good head of steam everywhere that I'm seen
Wherever my wheels rolled through
Wherever my wheels rolled through

Well, I was nearly shut down in a Midwest town
Her hair was red, her eyes were blue
But the wheels on the track kept calling me back
So I bid that girl adieu
Yes, I bid that girl adieu

Blow whistle, steel wheels keep on humming
Hold on darling your engine driver's coming
He's coming through

Some day I'll have to give up the iron line
And then I'll know just what I will find
I'll find me some shack by some old railroad track
So I can hear them motors whine
So I can hear them motors whine

Blow whistle, hear them steel rails humming
Hold on darling your engineer is coming
He's coming through

Now I've been an engine driver all of my days
That's the only thing I can do
I hold a good head of steam anywhere that I'm seen
Anywhere my trains rolled through
Anywhere my trains rolled through

Blow whistle, hear that steel rail humming
Hold on girl your engine driver's coming
Coming to you

 

[fox69]

"It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft"

"It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft"


Looking through the window
To see which way the wind blows
It seems as though a hurricane is due today
Sunny on the outside
Stormy on the inside
Stormy weather's always best for making hay

In comes everlasting
Looks like he's been fasting
With his friends in a den with director's robe
Like a bandoliero
With his cigarillo
Robs the rich, robs the rest, brings it all back home

Please don't get us wrong, man
This is just a song, man
No matter what we say
This is the season
Stormy weather's on the way
This is the season
Stormy weather's on the way
You better start worrying, witchcraft's here to stay

In blows snow white
The dwarves are kind of off-white
The vision's his decision so they're out of luck
Associates are reeling
The wallpaper is peeling
He doesn't see the paperwork that's come unstuck

Please don't get us wrong, man
This is just a song, man
No matter what we say
This is the season
Stormy weather's on the way
This is the season
Stormy weather's on the way
You better start worrying, witchcraft's here to stay

In comes Saville
Had his fill of travel
Grabbed a bite on the flight, just touched down today
Looking drawn and haggard
Through the door he staggered
With a sound that he found over Frisco way

Please don't get us wrong, man
This is just a song, man
No matter what we say
This is the season
Stormy weather's on the way
This is the season
Stormy weather's on the way
You better start worrying, witchcraft's here to stay

 

[fox69]

"Jack O'Diamonds"

"Jack O'Diamonds"


Jack O'Diamonds, on the move
Jack O'Diamonds, one-eyed knave
On the move, hits the street
Bumps his head, on the ground
Well, he's a scout, you're born to lose
Shouldn't stay
Jack O'Diamonds is a hard card to play
Jack O'Diamonds, yeah Jack O'Diamonds
This one-eyed prince, wears a single love[?]
Oh sure, he's not that lovely
Jack O'Diamonds broke my hand
Left me here to stand
Jack O'Diamonds is a hard card to land
Jack O'Diamonds is a hard card
Jack O'Diamonds is a high card
Jack O'Diamonds is a hard card
But it ain't hard enough
Jack O'Diamonds can open for riches
Jack O'Diamonds but then it switches
Colour by picture but it's only a ten
Jack O'Diamonds, yeah Jack O'Diamonds
Jack O'Diamonds is a hard card to play
Jack O'Diamonds, yeah Jack O'Diamonds
This one-eyed prince, wears a single love[?]
Oh sure, he's not that lovely
Jack O'Diamonds broke my hand
Left me here to stand
Jack O'Diamonds is a hard card to play
Jack O'Diamonds is a hard card
Jack O'Diamonds is a high card
Jack O'Diamonds is a hard card
But it ain't hard enough
Jack O'Diamonds can open for riches
Jack O'Diamonds but then it switches
Colour by picture but it's only a ten
Jack O'Diamonds

 

[fox69]

"Jack O'Rion"

"Jack O'Rion"


Jack O'Rion was the finest fiddler ever fiddled on the string
He could drive young ladies wild with a tune his wires would sing
He could fiddle the fish out of salt water, water from a marble stone
Or milk from out a maiden's breast though baby she had none

There he played in the castle hall and there he played them fast asleep
Except it was for the young countess who, for love, she stayed awake
So first he played her a slow air and then he played it brisk and gay
And oh, dear love, behind her glove, this lady she did say

"Ere the day has dawned and the cocks have crowed and flapped their wings so wide
It's you must come to my chamber there and lie down by my side"
So he wrapped his fiddle in a cloth of green and he stole out on his a-tip-a-toe
And he's off back to his young boy Tom as fast as he could go

"Ere the day has dawned and the cocks have crowed and flapped their wings so wide
I'm bid to go to the lady's door and stretch out by her side"
"Lie down, lie down, my good master, here's a blanket to your hand
And I'll waken you in as good a time as any cock in this land"

Now Tom took the fiddle into his hand, he fiddled and he played for a full hour
Until he played him fast asleep; he's off to the lady's bower
And when he came to her chamber door, he twirled softly at the pin
The lady, true to her promise, rose up and let him in

He did not take that lady gay to bolster nor to bed
But down upon the hard cold floor right soon he had her laid
And he did not kiss her when he came nor yet but from her he did go
But in out the lady's bedroom window, the moon like a coal did glow

"Ragged are your stockings, love, and stubbly is your cheek and chin
And tousled is that yellow hair that I saw yestereve"
"These stockings belong to my boy Tom, they were the first came to my hand
The wind must have tousled my yellow hair and I rode over the land"
Now Tom took the fiddle into his hand, he fiddled and he played so saucily
He's off back to his master's house as fast as go could he

"Wake up, wake up, oh my good master, why snore you there so loud?
There's not a cock in all this land but has clapped his wings and crowed"
Jack O'Rion took the fiddle into his hand and he fiddled and he played so merrily
He's off away to the lady's house as fast as go could he

And when he came to the lady's door, he twirled so softly at the pin
Saying "Oh, my dear, it's your true love, rise up and let me in"
She said "Surely you didn't leave behind a golden brooch nor a velvet glove
Or are you returning back again to taste more of my love?"

Jack O'Rion, he swore a bloody oath, by oak, by ash, by bitter thorn
"Lady, I never was in your house since the day that I was born"
"Oh, then it was your young boy Tom that cruelly has beguiled me"
"Oh woe, that the blood of that ruffian boy did spring in my body"

Jack O'Rion sped off to his own house, saying "Tom, my boy, come here to me"
He hung him from his own gatepost, high as a willow tree

 

[fox69]

"Jesus On The Mainline (Live)"
(feat. Robert Plant)

"Jesus On The Mainline (Live)"
(feat. Robert Plant)



Oh, Jesus on that mainline, tell him what you want
Oh, oh, Jesus on that mainline, tell him what you want
Oh, Jesus on the mainline, tell him what you want
Call him up and tell him what you want
Now, if you're sick and you wanna get well, tell him what you want
Oh, oh, if you're sick and you wanna get well, tell him what you want
Hmm, if you're sick and you wanna get well, tell him what you want
Ah, call him up and tell him what you want
Oh well, if you're feeling down and out, tell him what you want
Oh, oh, if you're feeling down and out, tell him what you want
Well, if you're feeling down and out, tell him what you want
Call him up and tell him what you want (one more, one more)
Oh, Jesus on that mainline, tell him what you want
Oh, oh, Jesus on that mainline, tell him what you want
Oh, Jesus on the mainline, tell him what you want
Call him up and tell him, whoa, way down inside, tell him what you want

 

[fox69]

"Jewel In The Crown"

"Jewel In The Crown"


We are a proud land, we stand for freedom
We've got the franchise, on how to lead them
We've got the history, and books to prove it
Give us the mountain, and we will move it

We rule the waves, and, the seven seas, we
Bring the mighty, to their knees
We offer hope, and inspiration
A fine example, to lesser nations

We are Britannia, jewel in the crown

We brought a system, to the masses
Divide a nation, into classes
It's in our breeding, and on our faces
At least we're all born, knowing our places

We stay within our, social borders
We only take what, our class affords us
It doesn't matter, that it's not even
This is the nature, of the demon

We are Britannia, jewel in the crown

We are Britannia
We crowned an empire
We came and conquered
We tore their borders down
We need no conscience
God is on our side
We are Britannia
Jewel in the crown

We are your friendly, liberators
We'll free you countries, from your dictators
For a small slice, of your oil wells
We'll send our boys in, with their bombshells

We are a refuge, for the needy
Always caring, never greedy
Whatever gesture, could be finer
We've given Hong Kong, back to China

We are Britannia, jewel in the crown

Jewel in the crown
Jewel in the crown
Jewel in the crown

 

[fox69]

"John Barleycorn"

"John Barleycorn"


There were three men come out of the west, their fortunes for to try
And these three men made a solemn vow, John Barleycorn would die
They've ploughed, they've sown, they've harrowed, thrown clods upon his head
Till these three men were satisfied John Barleycorn was dead
There's beer all in the barrel and brandy in the glass
But little Sir John, with his nut-brown bowl, proved the strongest man at last
They've let him lie for a long long time till the rains from heaven did fall
And little Sir John sprang up his head and so amazed them all
They've let him stand till midsummer's day and he looks both pale and wan
Then little Sir John's grown a long long beard and so become a man
They've hired men with the sharp-edged scythes to cut him off at the knee
They've rolled him and tied him around the waist, treated him most barbarously
They've hired men with the sharp-edged forks to prick him to the heart
And the loader has served him worse than that for he's bound him to the cart
So they've wheeled him around and around the field till they've come unto a barn
And here they've kept their solemn word concerning Barleycorn
They've hired men with the crabtree sticks to split him skin from bone
And the miller has served him worse than that for he's ground him between two stones
And the huntsman he can't hunt the fox nor loudly blow his horn
And the tinker he can't mend his pots without John Barleycorn

 

[fox69]

"John Condon"

"John Condon"


Just a day, another day
Beneath the Belgian sun
Passed grave on grave, row upon row
Until I see the name, John Condon

Carved in stone with harp and crown
Little crosses in the ground
And standing there, my silent prayer
Is for this boy who died, this soldier

Wee lad will not grow old
Heroes who don't come home
Here they lie in Belgian fields
[?]

Just a recruit in soldiers' blue
From Ireland's shores to here
This living hell, this [?]
Where young men die like you, John Condon

And all around, the harp and crown
The crosses in the ground
Stands up and proves the bitter truth
The waste of youth that lies forgotten

Wee lad will not grow old
Heroes who won't come home
Here they lie in Belgian fields
[?]

Now tell me John, 'fore I go on
What did you come in here for?
With Ireland's bold, your life untold
Fourteen years old, to die a soldier

And all around, the harp and crown
The crosses in the ground
What cause to serve, so undeserved
Heroes that don't come home
Sing out for all their souls
Here they lie in Belgian fields
[?]

 

[fox69]

"John Condon (Live)"

"John Condon (Live)"


Just a day, another day
Beneath the Belgian sun
Passed grave on grave, row upon row
Until I see the name, John Condon
Carved in stone with harp and crown
Little crosses in the ground
And standing there, my silent prayer
Is for this boy who died, this soldier
Wee lad will not grow old
Heroes who won't come home
Here they lie in Belgian fields
[?]
Just a recruit in soldiers' blue
From Ireland's shores to here
This living hell, this [?]
Where young men fell like you, John Condon
And all around, the harp and crown
Little crosses in the ground
Stands up and proves the bitter truth
The waste of youth that lies forgotten
Wee lad will not grow old
Heroes who won't come home
Here they lie in Belgian fields
[?]
So tell me John, 'fore I go on
What did you come in here for?
With Ireland's bold, your life untold
Fourteen years old, to die a soldier
And all around, the harp and crown
Little crosses in the ground
What cause to serve, so undeserved
Heroes that don't come home
Sing out for all their souls
Here they lie in Belgian fields
[?]

 

[fox69]

"John Lee"

"John Lee"


John Lee, your headache's growing, the cold wind's blowing
But the sea's without a ripple
John Lee, your forehead's damp, your muscles cramp
And the sea can't use a cripple
John Lee, you're turning around your fate again
Oh, John Lee
John Lee, you're turning around your fate again
Oh, John Lee
John Lee's been made a freeman, his heart's a seaman
But his flesh won't make a sailor
Working in a big hotel, waiting for the bell
That's ringing for his labour
John Lee, you're turning around your fate again
Oh, John Lee
John Lee, you're turning around your fate again
Oh, John Lee
John Lee, your chances are good, you better touch wood
We think things must get better
John Lee, you've a friend so true, she wants to help you
Miss Keyes has sent a letter
John Lee, you're turning around your fate again
Oh, John Lee
John Lee, you're turning around your fate again
Oh, John Lee
"Dear John, come and work at The Glen, just write me when
And I'll send someone to meet you"
John's gone to where he started from, he's not worked long, just beginning to belong
"It hasn't been a very good day, the missus wants to halve my pay
Close the door and douse the light, it's quiet at night when he's tucked in tight
Sometimes I feel, when they're all in bed, it's almost like the whole world's dead
So I lay me down to sleep, I pray thee Lord my soul to keep"
John Lee, you're turning around your fate again
Oh, John Lee
John Lee, you're turning around your fate again
Oh, John Lee
John Lee, you're turning around your fate again
Oh, John Lee
John Lee, you're turning around your fate again
Oh, John Lee