Fairport Convention

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"John My Son"

"John My Son"


John, my son, don't join the Navy, there's no good in it, I know
Plant your seeds on solid ground and watch your harvest grow
John, my son, don't join the Navy, that's clay that's underneath your skin
John, my son, don't join the Navy, don't go leaving your kith and kin
 
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"John The Gun"

"John The Gun"


"My shadow follows me
Wherever I should chance to go"
John the Gun did say
"If you should chance to meet me
As I wander to and fro
Sad would be your day
My life is mine and the light did shine
Till the guns they did go through me
So now I shall never fall
Ideals of peace are gold which fools have found
Upon the plains of war
I shall destroy them all"
Put away your guns of steel
Death comes too soon for all
Your Master He may need you soon
And you must heed His call
"I am the master of the games
That you will hardly ever play
So I will teach your sons
And if they should die
Before the evening of their span of days
Why, then they will die young"
"Condemn me not
For always will I play the game of war
In moonshine or in sun
And if any cross the path I choose to tread
Their chances they are poor
My name is John the Gun"
 
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"John Was Hardly More Than A Bewildered Observer At His Own Trial..."
(John was hardly more than a bewildered observer at his own trial, not being allowed to say more than a few words. The tides of fate wash him to the condemned cell where he waits three sad weeks for his last night on earth.)

"John Was Hardly More Than A Bewildered Observer At His Own Trial..."
(John was hardly more than a bewildered observer at his own trial, not being allowed to say more than a few words. The tides of fate wash him to the condemned cell where he waits three sad weeks for his last night on earth.)



"Lee," the sergeant said to me, "acting on my discretion
It is my solemn duty to arrest you on suspicion"
They put me in a carriage, I was driven many miles
They locked me in a prison cell to await my trial
John 'Babbacombe' Lee
John 'Babbacombe' Lee

The man who'd defend me was ill and couldn't come
His brother came to lend me help and I knew I was undone
"Do just what you want with me, I don't have a choice
You'd do as well without me as I'm not allowed to use my voice"
The judge sits high and mighty and he asks me who I am
The robes he wears impress me but he looks a kindly man
"To all who've come to see me, for those that'd prove me guilty
May the joker hear your call and show you all more mercy"
John 'Babbacombe' Lee
John 'Babbacombe' Lee
John 'Babbacombe' Lee
John 'Babbacombe' Lee

The trial was quickly over and my head was full of pain
I was slowly going crazy with the same story over again
I was tired and aching, I was standing half asleep
All I wanted was to take the weight from off my feet
John 'Babbacombe' Lee
John 'Babbacombe' Lee

The jury filed in slowly while we waited their command
"Courage, John, you're helpless and you are in heaven's hand"
John Lee's not scared of dying, there's a smile in all you'll find
Cradled in a deep sleep with a perfect peace of mind
I cannot blame the jury, on the evidence they heard
It seemed that I was guilty, hanged by too many words
I smiled in front of people so I told them what it meant
I trust the Lord in heaven and he knows I'm innocent
John 'Babbacombe' Lee
John 'Babbacombe' Lee
...

There's a tiny little window and the sun comes shining through
Dancing with the dust that's in my cell
There's a sparrow sitting on the sill and he stays for a minute or two
But he's frightened by the ringing of the bell
There's a bed that I must lie on when at night I take my rest
And a chair for me to sit on through the day
The men who wait beside me always know what's best
For a man who doesn't have too much to say

Throw a laugh into the corner, blow a tear against the wall
Learn a game to play, improve the mind
Confess your sins, you sinners, see how the seconds fall
Leave all earthly cares and woes behind
And when my short affair with life is ended and I'm gone
Will you tell the world the story of John Lee?
All you see is nothing and yet everything lives on
I was born to pay the hangman's fee
 
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"John's Reflection On His Boyhood..."
(John's reflection on his boyhood, his introduction to Miss Keyes and The Glen, his restlessness, and his struggles with his family, finally successful, to join the navy.)

"John's Reflection On His Boyhood..."
(John's reflection on his boyhood, his introduction to Miss Keyes and The Glen, his restlessness, and his struggles with his family, finally successful, to join the navy.)



Little did I think when the judge first spoke
Those awful words to me
That I would feel again the cold winds blow
And a heart would beat in 'Babbacombe' Lee

I was born to lead a life of sorrow
(I've seen friends hang their heads in shame)
Growing tired and weary of the morrow
Tortured by my terrible name

When I was fifteen, my father called to me
Saying "Now you are a man and all men work
There's a lady and they say her name's Miss Keyes
Her pony's very old, it needs a nurse"

For eighteen months I worked for her about The Glen
(She was like a mother to me)
But time goes slowly when you're thinking wishfully
(Of all the other places to be)

There were boats drifting in the harbour
There were sailors talking in the town
That's the life for a boy who wants to wander
For a man who doesn't want to settle down
...

I was sixteen now and full of life, life was full of things to see
Grown up in my little town and only seen Torquay

So it's off I went to Newton Abbot to get myself the deeds to sign
My father took them and tore them up, saying "That's no life for a boy of mine"

"John, my son, don't join the Navy, there's no good in it, I know
Plant your seeds on solid ground and watch your harvest grow
John, my son, don't join the Navy, that's clay that's underneath your skin
John, my son, don't join the Navy, don't go leaving your kith and kin"

A boy must breathe and search some hearts or call himself a failure
So I would see some foreign shores and I would be a sailor
So I went off to my mother for a week or more and wiled and wheeled and won my way
Father put the pen to paper in the fields at lunch the very next day
 
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"Knights Of The Road"

"Knights Of The Road"


Set out from Carlisle with the sun beside him
Sinking low across an empty field
Old moon a-rising, the first lone star a-shining
Shadows rolling down the lonely hills

Run down by Lichfield and the rain it started pouring
Water flowing up along the road
Listen to the rumble of the ten big wheels a-turning
Listen for the shifting of the load.

Knights of the road, riders of the highways
Hauling the load, making it the hard way

Miles crack on by and he sang with his engines
Old tunes like "Kisses sweeter than wine"
Dreaming of the girl he'd be lying with at sunrise
Another lonely milestone passed him by

Knights of the road, riders of the highways
Hauling the load, making it the hard way

Lightning it crashed and he never saw it coming
They found him with his hands still at the wheel
Just another poor boy trying to keep 'em running
He died lugging 30 tons of steel

Knights of the road, riders of the highways
Making it the hard way
 
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"Knockin' On Heaven's Door"
(originally by Bob Dylan)

"Knockin' On Heaven's Door"
(originally by Bob Dylan)



Mama, take this badge off of me
I can't use it anymore
It's gettin' dark, too dark for me to see
I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore
That long black cloud is comin' down
I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
 
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"Lady Of Pleasure"

"Lady Of Pleasure"


She's a lady of pleasure, she's a lady of joy
And she has no illusions of grandeur
You can get what you want when your money's up front
She's a sailor-lad's port in a storm
A sailor-lad's port in a storm
To some she's a sweetheart, to some she's a whore
And to others she's there to come home to
Well, she knows the score 'cause she's done it all before
Just knock and she'll open the door
Knock and she'll open the door
"Oh, where are you going, my fine feathered friend?
Have you someone to sleep with tonight?
If you're willing to pay, you'll have somewhere to stay
I've a nice place a short haul away
It's only a short haul away"
There's some makes it easy, there's some makes it hard
And there's some try to keep it a secret
But she's there on the tide, she's just out for a ride
And you know she's got nothing to hide
Nothing at all to hide
'Cause she's a lady of pleasure, she's a lady of joy
And she has no illusions of grandeur
You can get what you want when your money's up front
She's a sailor-lad's port in a storm
A sailor-lad's port in a storm
 
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"Let It Go"

"Let It Go"


There's no excuse for torture, that you ought to know
Let it live, let it breathe, let it go
Yonder stands a scarecrow, he's hollow in his robes
Let it live, let it breathe, let it go
The song was only in our time
They'll call it long, long ago
They'll say, "Ah well, it was their best"
Let it go, let it go
The master and the mistress a-trying hard to show
Let it live, let it breathe, let it go
Now there is not time for shame or tears on a window pane
Let it live, let it breathe, let it go
Eyes were made to smile and water
Tears were made to flow
Let it live, let it breathe, let it go
There's a game that would have bought you
Were you ever set to throw
Let it live, let it breathe, let it go
 
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"Little Did I Think"

"Little Did I Think"


Little did I think when the judge first spoke
Those awful words to me
That I would feel again the cold winds blow
And a heart would beat in 'Babbacombe' Lee

I was born to lead a life of sorrow
(I've seen friends hang their heads in shame)
Growing tired and weary of the morrow
Tortured by my terrible name

When I was fifteen, my father called to me
Saying "Now you are a man and all men work
There's a lady and they say her name's Miss Keyes
Her pony's very old, it needs a nurse"

For eighteen months I worked for her about The Glen
(She was like a mother to me)
But time goes slowly when you're thinking wishfully
(Of all the other places to be)

There were boats drifting in the harbour
There were sailors talking in the town
That's the life for a boy who wants to wander
For a man who doesn't want to settle down
 
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"London Danny"

"London Danny"


London Danny is a real bad penny
The one man time has told me I should fear
For the girl you left behind, she said she would be mine
So why did you have to come and show your face round here
For she always said that time would make it right
But now I always hear her sighing in the night
And don't think I don't know, if you asked her then she'd go
Ah but please now don't you take her from me, London Danny
Well I've learned to listen for your name round town
When people talk of your success in city life
But I could never tell if she heard them talk as well
Or rue the day she ever was a poor man's wife
For she always said that time would make it right
But now I always hear her sighing in the night
And don't think I don't know, if you asked her then she'd go
Ah but please now don't you take her from me, London Danny
Well me' hands are black while yours are clean and clever
There's ways you know to turn her pretty head
Well it's all that I can do when me' working day is through
To let her heart beat me to sleep each night in bed
For she always said that time would make it right
But now I always hear her sighing in the night
And don't think I don't know, if you asked her then she'd go
Ah but please now don't you take her from me, London Danny
Well London Danny you're a real bad penny
The one man time has told me I should fear
For the girl you left behind, she said she would be mine
So why did you have to come and show your face round here
For she always said that time would make it right
But now I always hear her sighing in the night
And don't think I don't know, if you asked her then she'd go
Ah but please now don't you take her from me, London Danny
 
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