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Bird Who Sings Freedom - Debut Album Release - July 28th 2017

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​The Bird Who Sings Freedom is the debut album by Georgia Lewis, who has been hailed as the best voice to emerge from the English folk scene in recent years.  
          Well-worn traditional songs sit alongside two originals, an A.E. Housman poem and, opening the album, a setting of the words of Maya Angelou. Throughout, Georgia seeks timeless themes in old words. Stories of love, loss, conflict and betrayal.  
          Produced by Lewis with Josh Clark (Kate Rusby's Life In A Paper Boat), the album features Evan Carson (bodhrán) and Tom Sweeney (bass) alongside longtime bandmates Felix Miller (guitar) and Rowan Piggott (fiddle).
The Bird Who Sings Freedom is a glorious cocktail of modern folk influences, a potent statement of intent and a first glimpse at a burgeoning talent who looks set to put her stamp on English folk music.
To pre-order your own copy visit Rootbeat Records: 
​www.rootbeatrecords.com ​

1. The Bird Who Sings Freedom
2. Until One Day
3. Gypsies
4. Stonecutter Boy
5. True Lover
6. Unfortunate Lass
7. Wife of Usher’s Well
8. Must I Be Bound
9. Trees They Do Grow High
10. A Royal Game
11. Lady Diamond
​Tracks
All tracks are trad except:
Track 1: words Dr. Maya Angelou, tune Jerry Jordan
Track 2: Georgia Lewis
Track 5: Lyrics: AE Housman and G.Lewis, music G.Lewis
Track 10: Rowan Piggott
Musicians
Georgia Lewis    Vocals, Whistle, Accordion, shruti box
Felix Miller           Guitar
Rowan Piggott     5-string Fiddle, Piano
Tom Sweeney      Double Bass
Evan Carson        Bodhran, Percussion

Production
Recorded in The Kitchen, at The Courtyards, Wiltshire by Georgia Lewis, Josh Clark.
Produced by Georgia Lewis and Josh Clark
Mixed by Get Real Audio
Mastered by Stardelta Audio Mastering
Photography by Joe Hulbert and Woj Okuszko
Design Layout by Rowan Piggott

© & ℗ Georgia Lewis (RootBeat Records)
www.rootbeatrecords.com 
www.georgialewis.co.uk

​Bird Who Sings Freedom - Lyrics

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01. The Bird Who Sings Freedom
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See poem ‘Caged Bird’ by Maya Angelou.

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02. Until One Day
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Dark is the day that took you away
Swallowed by storms and flashes of grey

Rain sodden roads, leave marks in my skin
Watching you leave now empty within

A light in my window to guide you at night
A sign of my sorrow, a plea for my plight

So Look to the shore, or the light on the hill
The birds in the harbour, who wait for you still

You’ll see through the years, I’ll wait and I’ll sing
Until the day that you will 
Bring me my love, bring me my love


Until then, that day that I find you
I’ll keep watch where the sky meets the sea
Until then my love I’ll dream of you
Until then my heart cannot be free


Dark are these days, they roll into one
My heart is still burning, in the heat of the sun
My white knuckles covered, by black earth and clay
My burdens grow heavy, with each passing day.

Six moons have passed and still I look on
Each moment is counted as soon as it's gone

The cuckoo is silent, and brings me no song
While birds in the harbour, sing all the day long

Pre-chorus

Chorus

Stars fill the night sky, my eyes fill with tears
I feel you’re alive, after all of these years 

The light slowly fades, my time nearly gone
To know love as this, you can only have won

Pre-chorus

Chorus

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03. Gypsies
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There was seven yellow gypsies and all in a row
None of them lame nor lazy-O
And they sang so sweet and so complete
They stole the heart of a Lady-O

It was late that night when the lord came home
Inquiring for his lady-o
And answer the servants gave to him
She’s gone away with the seven yellow gyspys-o

Then sadle my bonny black horse
The white ones ne’r so speedy-o
That I made ride on a long summer night
In search of my false lady-o

So he rode west and he rode best
He rode through woods and corpses too
Until he came to an open field
And there he saw his lady-o

Would you give up your house and land
Would you give up your baby-o
Would you give your new wedded lord
To run away with the seven yellow gyspys-o

Well what care I for my house and land
What care for my baby-o
Sure I wouldn't give a kiss of the gypsy laddie's lips
Not for all Lord Cashill's money-O

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04. Stonecutter Boy
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It's of a brisk stonecutter boy returning home from work, 
When a pretty girl smiled in his face. He says, “My dearest dear, If you rest a moment here,
I'll tell you what I dreamed about last night, last night,
Oh I'll tell you what I dreamed about last night.”


T’was under an oak they sat themselves down. 
That little young girl she gave a little scream. 
And what they did I'll miss, And I'll leave you all to guess.
But I swear she got the content of his dream, of his dream, 
I swear she got the content of his dream.


Well, that young girl, she then arose and she smoothed down her clothes. 
So nimbly she looked upon the plain. She said, “My dearest sweet, Oh the next time that we meet,
I hope you tell me that dream over again, over again, 
Oh I hope you tell me that dream over again.”


Well that same stonecutter boy returning home from work, 
When another girl smiles in his face. He says, “My dearest dear, If you rest a moment here,
I'll tell you what I dreamed about last night, last night, 
Oh I'll tell you, I'll tell you, I'll tell you, I'll tell you
I'll tell you what I dreamed last night.”


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05. True Lover
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The lad came to her door at night,
When lovers crown their vows,
And whispered soft into the night
Beneath the shadow of the bending boughs.

"I shall not vex you, with my face
Henceforth, my love, for aye
So take me in your arms awhile
Before the east is grey."

"And I from hence away am past
I shall not find, a bride,
And you shall be, the first and last
I ever lay beside."

She heard and went and knew not why;
Her heart to his she gave
Light was the air beneath the sky
But dark under the shade.

"Oh do you breathe, lad, that your breast
Seems not to, rise and fall,
And here upon my bosom prest
There beats no heart at all?"

They are two lovers waiting
They are true lovers lost
Touched in silent wonder
Never to be the same

They are two hearts tangled
Moments from a flame
Touched in silent wonder
They can never be the same


"Oh loud, my girl, it used to knock,
You should have felt it then;
But since for you I stopped the clock
It never will go again."

"Oh lad, what is it, lad, that drips
Wet from your neck on mine?
And what is it falling on my lips,
My lad, that tastes of brine?"

"Oh like enough 'tis blood, my dear,
When the knife it has slit
My throat across from ear to ear
'Twill bleed because of it."

Under the stars the air was light
But dark below the boughs,
And still the air of the speechless night,
When lovers crown their vows.

"I shall not vex you with my face
Henceforth, my love, for I must not stay
So take me in your arms a while
Before the east is grey."
Before the east is grey."
Before the east is grey."
Before the east is grey."

They are two lovers waiting
They are true lovers lost
Touched in silent wonder
Never to be the same

They are two hearts tangled
Moments from a flame
Touched in silent wonder
They can never be the same

They are two lovers waiting
They are true lovers lost
Touched in silent wonder
Never to be the same


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06. Unfortunate Lass
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As I was a walking one fine summers morning,
One fine summers morning all early in May,
Who should I spy but my own dearest daughter
All wrapped up in flannel on a hot summers day

Oh mother of mother come sit you down by me,
Come sit you down by me and pity my case
It’s of a young officer lately deserted me
See how he’s left me in shame and disgrace

Oh daughter oh daughter why hadn’t you told me 
Why hadn’t you told me, we’d have took in time
I might have got salts and pills of white mercury
Now you’re a young girl cut down in your prime

Doctor of doctor come wash up your bottles 
Come wash up your bottles and wipe them quite dry
My body is aching my poor heart is breaking
And I in some deep solemn fashion must lie

Have six jolly fellows to carry my coffin
Have six pretty fair maids to carry my pall
Give each pretty fair maid a glass of brown ale saying
There goes the bones of a true hearted girl

Come rattle your drums, come play your fifes merrily
Merrily play and the dead march along
And over my coffin throw handfuls of laurel saying
There goes the bones of a true hearted girl



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07. Wife of Usher’s Well
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There lived a wife at Usher's Well, 
A wealthy wife was she;
She had three stout and stalwart sons, 
She sent them out to sea.

They hadn’t been a week from her, 
A week but barely three
When word came to the aged wife 
Her sons she’d never see

"I wish the wind may never cease 
Nor fish swim in the flood
Till my three sons come home to me, 
In earthly flesh and blood."

And there about the Michaelmas,
When nights were long and dark,
The aging wife's three sons came home, 
But Death had made his mark.

"Build up the fire my girl,
Bring water from the well;
For all my house shall feast tonight 
Since my three sons are well."

So she has laid the table high
With wholesome bread and wine,
“Come eat and drink, my darling babes,
Come eat and drink of mine.”

“We must not eat your bread mama 
Nor can we drink your wine,
For we have done a deal with Death, 
So we three must decline.

So she has made the bed for them, 
And spread the milk-white sheets. 
She's laid it all with cloth of gold 
To see if they can sleep.

But up then crew the proud red cock, 
And up then crew the gray;
The eldest to the youngest said,
'Tis time we were away.

"Fare you well, my mother dear! 
Farewell to barn and byre!
And fare you well, the bonny girl 
That kindles mama’s fire!"

“The grass is green about our heads 
The clay is at our feet,
We’re shrouded in our earthy beds 
And Death we cannot cheat.”

The woman cursed the hand of death, 
She cursed the grass and clay,
But most of all she cursed the sea 
That took her sons away.

The wife she was so struck with grief 
She made her way outside
And threw herself into the ground 
To cross to t’other side

So listen all you gentle folk,
And heed the tolling bell,
Which knells at this late hour for, 
 The wife at Usher's Well

So listen all you gentle folk,
And heed the tolling bell,
Which knells at this late hour for, 
The wife at Usher's Well

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08. Must I Be Bound
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Must I be bound while you go free
Must I love one who cannot love me
Why do I act such a childish part
To follow a lad who will break my heart

The first thing that my love gave to me
It was a cap well lined with led
And the longer that I wore that cap
Oh the heavier it grew upon my head

And next he gave me a mantle to wear
Lined with sorrow and stitched with care
The drink he gave me was bitter gal
And the blows he served me were worst than all

The third thing that my love gave to me
It was a belt with colours three
The first was shame the next was sorrow
And last of all sad misery

But I will climb up a higher tree 
And I will find a richer nest
I’ll climb down and will not fall
And marry a lad I will love with all

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09. Trees They Do Grow High
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Oh the trees they do grow high,
And the leaves they do grow green,
And it’s many's the cold winter's night,
You and I my love have seen.
It’s on a cold winter's night,
​You and I my love have been.
Oh my bonny boy is young but he's growing,
Growing, growing,
My bonny boy is young, but he's growing


"Oh father, dear father, you've done to me much harm,
For to go and get me married to one who is so young.
For he is only sixteen years old and I am twenty-one,
Oh my bonny boy is young but he's growing,
Growing, growing, my bonny boy is young but he's growing."

"Oh daughter, dear daughter, I'll tell you what I'll do,
I'll send your love to college for another year or two.
And all around his college cap I'll tie a ribbon blue,
For to let the ladies know that he's married,
Married, married,
To let the ladies know that he's married."


At the age of sixteen he was a married man,
And at the age of seventeen the father to a son,
And at the age of eighteen the grass grew over him.
Cruel death soon put an end to his growing,
Growing, growing,
Cruel death soon put an end to his growing.


And now my love is dead and in his grave doth lie,
But he has left his wealth for me so I’ll get by and by
I'll sit here and mourn his death until the day I die
And I'll watch all over our child while he's growing,
Growing, growing,
I'll watch all over our child while he's growing,

He's growing, growing,
my bonny boy is young, but he's growing.


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10. A Royal Game
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A restless king is sat all alone,
He fears that he may lose his throne,
For from afar he can see a host
Of darkened soldiers come from the coast.

As they approached his castle then 
 They met a rank of brave footmen 
Whose duty bound them to remain
 Though fate would play their lives in vain.

The battle rages for e’er an hour 
The king he hides in his ivory tower 
And all the clergy say their creed
As every horseman mounts his steed.

When night & fog obscured them all, 
They sured the gate and the old Stonewall, 
In fear and trembling there laid low 
Without an Ally to slay their foe.

The king sat wooden in his keep 
As if in some enchanted sleep
When he emerged to survey the scene 
He saw them take his beloved queen.

His men lay strewn ‘cross the battlefield 
And all alone now, our king must yield
As circling rooks foretold his fate
He heard his foe call aloud “Checkmate!”


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11. Lady Diamond
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There was a king, a glorious king, a king of noble fame,
And he had daughters only one, Lady Diamond was her name.

She had a boy, a kitchen boy, a boy of muckle scorn.
But she loved him deep, she loved him high as the grass grows through the corn.

When twenty weeks were gone and past, it came upon that morn
 Her petticoats grew short before and a child would soon be born.

The king came to his daughter’s bedside, pulled back the curtains long.
“What aileth thee, my Diamond dear, I fear you've gotten wrong.”

“Oh, if I have, despise me not, for he is all my joy.
I’ll forsake both dukes and earls and marry my kitchen boy.”

“Oh, bring to me my merry men all, by thirty and by three.
And bring to me this kitchen boy, we'll murder him secretly.”

Not a sound into the hall and never a word was said
Until they had him safe and sure between two feather beds.

“They've torn his heart from out of his breast, put it in a cup of gold,
They’ve taken it to the fair lady, who’d been so stout and bold.”

She took the cup from out of their hands, she set it at her bed,
She washed it with her flowing tears; next morning she was dead.

“Oh bring to me my merry men all, that I give both meat and wage,
Could you not have stay my cruel hand when I was in a rage?

“For gone is all my heart's delight and gone is all my joy,
For my own dear Diamond, she is dead, likewise my kitchen boy.”
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